My Precious
by ChuanFromSocko
Summary: Sasuke has a huge secret crush on his best friend, Naruto; who is always crushing on new girls just about every week but they never turn out how Naruto wants. Even though Sasuke hates that, he is relieved that the girls always say "No." But what happens when one girl finally says "Yes."? What will Sasuke do? Will Naruto ever realize Sasuke's feelings?
1. Nightmare

Hello, Y'all! This is my first fanfiction that I'm putting out so far so tell me if y'all like it! If there are problems with the story in grammar or spelling or anything lemme know, I wanna learn from this. This is a NaruSasu story cause I really love me some NaruSasu. ;) I'm trying to grow as a writer cause I wanna wright books so for practice I'm doing this. I wanna hear all y'alls opinions. But I really hope y'll like this so far. This is just the first chapter though, I'm just giving y'all a taste of it and I want y'all to let me know if y'all want more of this story or not. Have fun reading!

I DON'T OWN NARUTO AT ALL!

By the way...

 _"_ **This can mean a memory or a text message.** "

 _"This means someone is thinking."_

"And this means someone is talking."

* * *

 **"...Hey, did you hear me?"**

 **"Huh? No.."**

 **"You never listen to me!"**

 **"It's cause I don't want my IQ to drop."**

 **"Bastard!"**

 **"Heh, I'm only stating the truth, idiot."**

 **"HEY! I'll get you for that!"**

 **"Watch what you're doing, dobe!"**

 **"No way! I told you I'll get you!"**

 **"Let go of me!"**

 **"Defiantly not!"**

 **"OI!"**

* * *

 _"This is how it always is with us, these small arguments over hardly anything...but I can't help but smile at them._ _He really is adorable when he gets all flustered; when his tan skin lightly blushes, the contrasts against his bright blonde hair. When I see that I totally forget about the fight and can't help but stare at how lovely he is, he is absolutely gorgeous. Yet, he has no idea of my true feelings...that ignorant idiot. He is my best friend but being who I am and who my family is and how I grew up, showing my feelings is the absolute hardest. I wish I knew what he was thinking though, that would be so freaking nice! I don't know if I'll ever tell him...from what I know he is straight, with the way he talks about girls no one would guess otherwise. I'm not like those leading parts in movies or books where the person with the crush can't hide it. I hide pretty well actually, I think can hide any emotion I have pretty dang well._

 _Although, I sometimes wonder if that's even a good thing, is it good to be able to hide every emotion you possess? It kinda makes me feel lonely, no one is able to see when I'm hurt and depressed or when I'm happy and excited. My brother, Itachi, is a genius but yet he can't even tell when I'm upset. But then again, I find it hard sometimes to read Itachi but he also doesn't tell me his emotions either. I tried asking one time when I saw how stressed he was from overworking but he gave me a fake smile and told me he was fine and then he left. Naruto is as easily read as a picture book, he tells me all his problems, I pretend to not listen but I listen to everything he says and I always will, because I love him more than anything and it hurts knowing this cause I know I'll never hold him like I want, I can't love him how I want, I can't be that kind of person in his life and knowing all that hurts so bad. More than anything, even more than when my parents died, and knowing I can never tell Naruto my feelings hurts more than not having parents. He really is_ _my most precious person_ _..."_

Sasuke closed the journal he finished writing in and put it up in his safe spot under his mattress. He sighed, he looked at his mattress knowing fully well that's the worst place to hide anything you don't want found but he had no where else except plain sight and he don't know which is worse so he figured at least the mattress covers it up.

He sighs as he grabs the bridge of his nose for his imaginary headache and then walks over to grab his backpack and walk down stairs for a glass of juice, he doesn't usually eat breakfast, 1) Because Itachi always left early for work, he is a nurse, and was the best cook between the two, 2) Because there were hardly ever groceries and 3) Because he wasn't a big fan anyway, he was hardly hungry in the mornings because he so often woke up with a little nausea.

So he finished his glass of cranberry grape juice and starts off to school, he always walks becasue he loves the fresh air and exercise so he walked even if there was a storm, he doesn't mind the rain all that much. Today, he knew, was not gonna be a good day; he sighed, Naruto had a new crush which means, since Sasuke is the best friend, he has to hear about her all day long and it takes every inch of Sasuke's will power to not punch him. Yes, he'd say he has a vicious kind of love. So Sasuke, even though he hated it, was gonna try to avoid Naruto. That would prove difficult since Naruto had three of this semesters four classes. Maybe he should have skipped school today?

Sasuke finally arrived at the school, carefully and cautiously moving towards the school while looking for Naruto. His first class is JROTC and Naruto and him aren't in the same platoon so they sit on opposite sides of the room, and that helps him a lot this morning, there is never time to talk to anyone except for who you sit beside and behind.

Finally, Sasuke made it to class without coming across Naruto. Sasuke sighs from relief as he collapses down into his seat, he looks around at the people starting to flood in but he sees no sign of Naruto, but its normal for Naruto to be late.

Time ticks by and still no Naruto, class began 30 minutes ag- BAM- o, Sasukes jumped at the loud noise, he turns to look and sees Naruto rushing in, Sasuke smiles _"Spoke to soon."_ Naruto's face flushes with embarrassment at shoving the door to hard and being so late.

"Uzumaki! Would you care to explain why you are so late?!" The teacher yells from his spot in the middle of the floor.

Naruto tenses up and looks towards the floor, nervous to actually look at his pissed off teacher, 1st Sergeant Morino Ibiki. "Um...well...I-I was..." Naruto stutters, trying to think of an answer.

Morino looks even more displeased, "Spit it out, Uzumaki."

Naruto lifts his right arm to rub behind his head, his nervous tick, he puts on a grin that would split a normal person's face in two before he replies, "I just lost track of time cause I was talking to a girl." He lets out a nervous laugh before he puts his arm down.

Morino huffs, irritation eating at him, "Just go to your seat."

Even the teachers don't really know how to handle Naruto.

So Naruto starts walking to his seat and he looks towards Sasuke to smile and wave before sitting. Sasuke shakes his head and grins.

Morino decided to allow them to pack up a little early, for that Sasuke was grateful, he had to get out of here before Naruto ran up to him. Sasuke patiently waits for the bell to ring so he could dash quickly to his next class, even though he wonders what the use is considering Naruto had that class with him as well. His next class was math and his teacher always placed the students in seats alphabetically by last names so that put Naruto behind him, but the good thing about the teacher was that he absolutely hated when kids talked in his class so that helped him some, but Naruto was one to break rules, often, so he wondered if it would even help today.

The bell rang and he quickly grabs his bag and jumps for the door. He got outside and practically ran to Mr. Asuma Sarutobi's class. He got in and went to take his seat, it was on the same side as the teachers desk but the second from the very back, Naruto sat there. He layed his head down, needing to rest after running here.

After calming down and he just started staring at the wall trying to think about how to run to his next class without Naruto knowing he was avoiding him.

While Sasuke was contemplating his next move Naruto came into class and went to his seat, he taps Sasuke's shoulder and after he got his attention, whispered, "Hey, why didn't you wait for me after class today?"

Sasuke, cursing Naruto in his mind, just stared as if uninterested at him even though inside he was very nervous, "I'm just really tired today and I wanted to get here so I could lay my head down." He lied.

Naruto looked at him as if suspicious but then smiles and leans back into his seat, "Well, you gonna wait for me after this class then?" Naruto asks hopefully, "I wanna tell you about the girl I told you about some last night." Naruto smiles unknowing that Sasuke wants to ring his neck at that very moment.

Sasuke wants to walk with him but not when he is fancying some gal. So he is gonna lie to him again, "Sorry, I can't. I wasn't able to finish my work for my next class last night so I gotta hurry and finish it before he starts class." He hates seeing that smile come off the blondes face, it looks too good on him.

Naruto looks at him but then weekly smiles, "That's fine, Sasuke. Maybe we'll catch up later then. Like after school?"

Sasuke hates himself for being childish but he just don't wanna hear about this girl. Not right now. He'll hear about it eventually but he just don't want too right now. Sasuke smiles weekly, "Maybe, if I don't have much homework."

Naruto smiles again more brightly and nods, Sasuke turns around when the teacher begins speaking. Naruto has always been like this, every couple of weeks he has a new crush and every time he works up the courage to ask them out, and they all bluntly say no, and that they didn't like him, every time, but Naruto was not one to give up. He would ask them out several times before he'd start crushing on another girl.

Sasuke figures this would be the same so if Naruto found out he was avoiding him then if he could just say that this is the same pattern and that he didn't feel like hearing about another girl who will refuse to date him. It' s harsh to say that but he'll say anything to make sure Naruto don't find out about his feelings.

Sasuke then feels someone tap his shoulder, he turns slightly and Naruto whispers in his ear, "I plan on asking her out today after school."

Sasuke's heart thuds against his chest, no matter how many times he hears that it still affects him. Before Sasuke can reply, the teacher, who must have super hearing, hushes Naruto to be quiet and stop distracting his class. Naruto then snickers and leans back in his seat.

Sasuke stares at the clock, waiting for the time to pass, as it ticks loudly in his ears with each passing second. Each of his classes are a hour and a half long. _"This feels like it will be a long day."_ Sasuke sighs and starts on some math problems to busy his mind.

The bell rings and Sasuke, who practically leaps into the air, grabs his stuff and takes off to his next class, which happens to be art and it isn't that far from his math class and luckily for him, Naruto doesn't have this class with him. Art is probably his favorite class this semester, the teacher doesn't teach too much and he allows them to listen to music most of the time. The teacher is apparently pretty young, not to far off from the students themselves, he is in college or something and is studying to become an art teacher so the school gave him this job to see how he likes it. He doesn't wanna be called Mister so the students all just call him by his first name, Sai.

Sasuke enters his class and goes to his seat, the kids were allowed to chose their seats so he chose the table in the middle to the left and he sat alone, it was more peaceful that way. He watches as the students gather in and sit down, all of them sitting with friends and talking, the teacher finally comes in and tells them to draw whatever they feel like.

Sasuke then grabs his pen and stares at the blank paper wondering what he should draw, he searches his mind for something to draw and what pops in his head is the same thing that pops in his head all the time; Naruto's smiling face, so he draws and draws, filled with joy as his concentrates on that beautiful face.

Before his knows it the class is over, the bell rings, and it's time to go to his next class. Sasuke packs up his things and leaves, he has science next with Mr. Kakashi Hatake, a really strange, perverted, always late for class teacher but he is lenient and doesn't make them work to much which he didn't mind one bit because that means he also gets to sit next to Naruto and that they can talk through class _unless_ the teacher decides to give a test or something. Sasuke prays that they have a test today.

Sasuke walks into class and takes his seat, the "desks" is a long table, enough for two people to sit beside one another or for four to sit together two and two facing each other. Sasuke sits down and waits for everyone to get in and take their seats, he sees Naruto walk in chatting to some girl. Sasuke ignores it and starts doodling in his science book, he feels someone tap his shoulder and turns to see Naruto bent over right in front of Sasuke's face.

Naruto smiles and Sasuke blushes, "Hey, Sasuke. I'ma go sit with that girl over there today." He points towards the back of the class to a girl with long brown hair, soft forest green eyes, pale skin to rival Sasuke's own porcelain pale skin.

She looks to Sasuke and smiles gently.

"Her name is Kirie Goshima. She is the girl I've been telling ya about." Naruto looks towards her, smiles and waves.

Sasuke fights the urge to punch him in the stomach and glare at the girl.

Naruto then turns to Sasuke and smiles at him while putting his arm around Sasuke's shoulders, "Is that fine with you?"

Sasuke wants to say "no" but how can he when Naruto is so happy, he swallows, _"This crush should be over soon. Just wait a little while, Sasuke."_ So Sasuke sends Naruto a sarcastic smirk, "Why are you asking me, dobe? It's not like I care if you sit with your new crush. Just don't come crying to me when she dumps you."

Naruto's mouth falls open and he looks at Sasuke, "Say that any louder, should ya?" Naruto harshly whispers in Sasuke's ear.

Sasuke's smirk widens a fraction at Naruto's exasperated whisper.

"I'll get ya for that, teme. Just watch." Naruto smiles teasingly and removes his arm and walks over to Kirie.

Sasuke watches as Naruto sits next to her and starts cracking jokes. Sasuke sends an unknown glare their way and turns back around. Mr. Hatake decided to read his porn books and so he made the class watch a movie about giant snakes in the dinosaur ages.

Finally, the bell rings and as he gathers his things and gets up he sees Naruto leaving with Kirie. Sasuke's brows furrow as he glares; if looks could kill then everyone within a 20 foot radius would have collapsed.

Naruto is laughing as he nudges Kirie with his arm; Sasuke, not wanting to go to jail for murder decides to ignore it the best he can.

They walk out ahead of him and go the opposite direction from him, he needs to go to his locker and put some of his things up, today is Friday and he had no homework so he wants to put his books in his locker to lighten the load on his back. He walks through the halls to his locker trying to stop himself from thinking about his last class but his brain is determined and the only thing he sees is Naruto's smiling face and those gentle touches aimed towards someone else. Sasuke can feel his throat constrict, _"Shit! Not right now! I can't let myself be seen crying in school. Just calm down for now."_

Sasuke decides to walk out the doors from the sides to avoid Naruto and Kirie, they most likely would go out the front door. So Sasuke walks towards the doors, most people usually walk out the front so at least he could be alone for a couple minutes, he doesn't want to see anyone right now.

Sasuke opens the door and as he turns the corner to head to the road he sees Naruto and Kirie making out, Sasuke feels like his heart stops beating, the oxygen absorbed from his lungs as if he was hit with a car.

Sasuke is breathless.

Sasuke's eyes widen, tears bursting through. Sasuke sees his most precious person, the one he loves more than anything with his tongue down another person's throat.

Sasuke turns the corner and goes back inside the school, the tears now flowing freely from his puffy, red eyes. Sasuke just stands there in the hallway, he feels like someone had ripped off his limbs, gutted him, and then sat him on fire. Sasuke knew he wouldn't stop crying so he decided to go around the back of the school and go the long way home...

* * *

I hope y'all liked this first chapter! If y'all want more of this story lemme know! If y'all didn't read the top, go read it now! I'm not a very good writer yet but I hope I can give y'all some good stories. I'll try my best! You know I thought this first chapter was longer than it was, I was writing for a few hours. When you are writing it seems much longer. xD


	2. Revelation

Hello! I finally finished the second chapter! Sorry it took so long! I hope yall like it, I tried to follow yall's advice. Thank yall for reading and giving advice! Yall's reviews kept me writing, it was very encouraging! Well, here is the second chapter. Enjoy and review! Thank you so much!

* * *

It's been just about week since Sasuke has been to school, and he has spent that time well; just laying in his bed staring at the ceiling. He didn't even cry these last few days, he was just in such shock and disbelief that the only thing he was able to do was lie in his bed and stare at the ceiling.

Sasuke's face was blank, he appeared almost unfeeling but on the inside he was burnt and angry. He didn't know who he wanted to kill most, Naruto? or The Gum on The Bottom of His Shoe (AKA, Kirie Goshima)? Sasuke was defiantly hurt but he usually turns his hurt to anger and boy was he angry. But yet, he doesn't know if he is really angry at himself for letting Naruto slip away or angry at Naruto for being an oblivious idiot or Kirie for existing.

When Sasuke got home from school a week ago, Itachi was already home and Sasuke had just started walking towards his room. Itachi tried to speak to him and ask how his day went but Sasuke couldn't hear anything, he was just thinking about Naruto and the girl. Itachi got worried and tried to speak more but it didn't work, Itachi then grabbed Sasuke by his arms and asked him what was wrong and even though Sasuke had heard him, he didn't trust his voice and he didn't feel like talking anyway so he walked past Itachi and to his room.

And Sasuke was starting to get annoyed, Itachi had not stopped trying to pry answers from him but he had not spoken a word these last few days and Itachi was starting to worry so much he was scared.

Sasuke lied there in his bed, in the dark, just thinking about everything; his feelings, Naruto, how he can murder and leave no evidence, going back to school and Kirie. To say his brain was cluttered would be an understatement. Sasuke wanted to just forget everything for the time being, he wanted to just rest, his brain hurt. No, scratch that, everything hurt and he was tired.

Sasuke sighed and looked towards his phone, it was atop his night stand on the right side of his bed, he had turned it off after seeing Naruto and hadn't turned it on since then. He wonders if there are any texts but he is scared he'll see Naruto's name. He doesn't know if he can deal with that right yet but he wants to see what Naruto might have sent; like what he thinks of Sasuke's sudden disappearance. So Sasuke turns on his phone to reveal 9 messages from none other than Naruto and a few others from other friends. Sasuke scrolls through all the messages, they read:

 **Naruto**

 **"Sasuke, u weren't at school today. U okaaaay?"**

 **"Sasuke! What's up with u?"**

 **"U sick teme?!"**

" **Answer ME! Dammit!**

 **"SASUKE! THE HELLLLL?!**

 **"bastard.."**

 **"OIIIIIIII"**

 **"Why won't u answer me, teme?"**

 **"It's been a week already...If u don't tell me what's up, then I'm comin to ur house tomorrow, ya hear?!"**

 **Suigetsu**

 **"Sasuke, u sick or somin?"**

 **Kiba**

 **"What the hell u doin? Talk to Naruto, dumbass... he is driving me crazy!"**

 **"Oiii! Dumbass!"**

Sasuke sighed, what the hell was he supposed to do? Sasuke set his phone back down and leaned back onto his bed again stretching out his limbs but crossing his left forearm over his eyes as he inhaled deeply, what the hell was he doing? Crying over Naruto? Why was he being so fucking weak? This has got to stop, he might be in love with Naruto but he is tired of all this sissy stuff, all this crying and being depressed. Fuck all that. He was going to walk straight into school tomorrow, talk to Naruto, act like nothing has happened and stop being so damn weak.

xxx

Sasuke walked into school the next day and when he saw Naruto he almost went running back home. He turned around and started to walk back but stopped himself, _"Shit! This is stupid. I'm not supposed to be this weak, fucking hell. Just turn around Sasuke, just Turn. Around."_ Sasuke turned back around with a determined look on his face and walked straight up to Naruto and started walking beside him as if he hasn't been gone for a week. He stuffed his hands into his pockets as his tried to control his mind and body.

Over the past week Naruto has been driving all his friends crazy, not only over worry but also being clingy since Sasuke was not there. Naruto had texted Sasuke several times and never received an answer back, so today he had made the choice that if Sasuke didn't come to school then he was going to his house to find out what the problem was.

Naruto was walking to his first class when he felt someone walking beside him, he turned his head and saw Sasuke, casually walking beside him as if he _hasn't_ been gone for a week. Naruto stops and his eyes widen, his mouth opens slightly and he turns fully around to look at Sasuke.

"Sa-Sasuke?"

Sasuke stops and turns around to look at Naruto, his face showing no emotion. "Hn?"

"What," Naruto stutters, his face showing much confusion, "Where the hell have ya been bastard!?" Naruto screams having gotten over his momentary shock.

"Hn."

"Is that all ya gotta say, teme?!" Naruto says stepping closer to Sasuke.

"I was at home, dobe. I was sick." Sasuke replies rolling his eyes.

"Sick? What was wrong? Are ya okay now?" Naruto asked more seriously, finally showing his worry.

Sasuke internally smiles, seeing Naruto show so much worry over him is sweet. Why must he be dating that girl? "It was just the common stomach flu. Nothing to worry too much over." Sasuke replies turning around and walking towards their first class.

Naruto jogged up next to him, "Well I'm glad you're okay now," Naruto said pushing Sasuke in the shoulder, "you had me really worried, ya know." Naruto gave one of those 'I'm really worried about you but I'm glad you're okay' kinda laughs but then smiled brightly at him, the kind of smile that Sasuke loves. "Oh hey, do ya wanna sit with me and Kirie today? I really want you to meet her, she is also excited to meet ya." Naruto asks with a hopeful smile on his face.

Sasuke looks at Naruto, staring at his face. That bright blonde hair that just complements his skin tone, those beautiful kiss worthy pink lips that just shine when he licks them, and you can't forget those bright baby blue eyes that just by staring into them you get put into a trance. And he has got the most beautiful smile in the universe, the kind of smile that is brighter and warmer than the sun, that's so extremely kind and loving. But not only is Naruto beautiful but just who he is that is his true beauty and the biggest reason why Sasuke fell completely and madly in love with him.

Naruto taps him on his forehead, "Earth to Sasuke. Ya still there?"

Sasuke realizes he was just staring and that they had stopped walking, embarrassed he shakes his head and replies, "Yeah, I just zoned out. What is it you asked?"

"I _asked_ if you wanna sit with me and Kirie today at lunch and in science?" Naruto laughs.

 _"Great...I guess I don't have much of a choice. If I ever wanna see Naruto then I'll also have to get use to being with Kirie."_ Sasuke silently sighs, wishing he was at home just reading a good book. "I suppose that'll be alright." Sasuke says finally replying.

Naruto pouts, "'You suppose' huh?"

Sasuke narrows his eyes, "Yeah. Problem, dobe?"

Naruto pouts even more, "You are supposed to be excited Sasuke, ya know! She _is_ my girlfriend! Don't ya wanna meet her?" Naruto says wildly moving his hands in the air as he talks.

"I do wanna meet her." That was true, Sasuke wanted to meet her to see what kinda horrible person she is but he is defiantly not excited. "Let's go, I don't wanna be late."

Naruto smiles, satisfied with Sasuke's answer and heads off to their first class.

xxx

So far the day has been going well, it's almost like old times, just Naruto and Sasuke but now it's time for lunch and Kirie has their lunch period so Sasuke has to go sit next to the two lovebirds and be social.

"Yes! Finally! Lunch time is here! Lunch time is here! Lunch time is here! ." Naruto sings placing his hands behind his head as he walks.

Sasuke laughs at Naruto's excitement, "What's is the lunch bag?"

Naruto smiles and looks at him, "Homemade food."

Sasuke licks his lips, "Kushina's homemade food?" His stomach growls.

Naruto laughs and nods. "There is enough if you wanna share. You know she tends to go overboard with cooking food." Naruto smiles more brightly.

Sasuke internally pumped his fists in the air, "Yes, please. I love her food."

Sasuke followed Naruto to the table where Kirie was sitting and sat down across from Naruto who was sitting next to Kirie.

"Kirie! Hey! How is your day?" Naruto excitedly asks his girlfriend.

Kirie smiles warmly, a small that you know belongs to a girl looking at the boy she really likes. "It's going great, thank you. And you, Naruto?" She places her hand on his upper arm and looks at him.

Sasuke glares.

"It's going really good for me. Thanks Kirie." Naruto blushes a dark shade of red, not use to having a girlfriend or having anyone show any interest in him. "Oh yeah! Kirie, this is Sasuke. I told you about him. My best friend!" Naruto smiles as he points to Sasuke.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you Sasuke. Naruto has told me a lot about you. I'm Kirie Goshima." She puts on a big smile, one similar to Naruto's but not quite as huge. She sticks out her hand to shake Sasuke's and chuckles some.

Sasuke shakes her hand and introduces himself, "Sasuke Uchiha, pleasure."

Sasuke watches as Kirie and Naruto delve into conversation and cracking jokes. Sasuke just listens and sometimes comments, actually including himself. And the more he gets to know Kirie the more he understands why Naruto likes her, they are similar. She is beautiful and kind, outgoing but also cute and shy. Sasuke smiles to himself as he watches the love of his life with his girlfriend but he can't find it in him to be mad or hateful, because Naruto is happy and Kirie is a great match for him. Sasuke smiles more brightly, showing his pearly whites. For the first time since he fell in love with Naruto, he is happy that he is with someone like her, someone who treats him with love and kindness, who is patient and caring. Someone who Naruto loves. So Sasuke, smiling brightly, showing an emotion on his face that he has never shown before, laughs, knowing everything will be alright. He knows he'll make it, because he wants to be part of their life, sharing jokes and laughs with them.

Naruto and Kirie look at Sasuke, Naruto face twists in confusion at Sasuke's random happiness and smiling and Kirie, not knowing how unsociable he is, just smiles, happy that Sasuke seems to like her.

Sasuke smiles and laughs as he looks at their faces, finally feeling a weight drop off his shoulders. Finally feeling relief.

Naruto smiles so brightly it was almost blinding, the happiness Naruto felt could not be described with words, for he was incredibly happy that Sasuke was smiling.

And Sasuke was happy with Naruto smiling.

* * *

HIIII! How did you like it? I figured Sasuke shouldn't hate on her and just enjoy life with Naruto no matter what. But I do have some plans for the next chapters, I want this tho be pretty long. I hope yall enjoy the whole story once I finish. I'll try posting chapters more often and I plan on working on my skills as a writer so yall can get the best story telling! Thank yall so much! Please review and give me yall's opinion!


	3. End of the Line

Hello! I'm sorry this chapter is going up so late! I've been studying up on writing so I can make the best with my stories and with the skills I currently have. I do hope you enjoy this new chapter and I hope to write the next one soon! Thank you all for the lovely comments! They mean so much to mean, all of them. I hope you all stick with me through to the end and I hope you all enjoy. Thanks for sticking by so far! 3 Btw, y'all should totally go listen to the song "End of The Line" By Garth Johnson! It's great!

* * *

Three months have passed since Kirie and Naruto first started to date and it's now December, but they still act like the newest of love-birds, all that mushy-mushy stuff is driving everyone insane. Sasuke and all of Naruto's friends can't stand much more. And even though Naruto has a girlfriend, he always still brings his best friend with him everywhere, even on their dates. Kirie doesn't seem to mind but that's because she's a nice girl and it sure makes Sasuke feel very awkward, especially when they start up on the kissy stuff.

So, here all three of them sit, watching what Sasuke and Naruto hate the most, a chick-flic. But at the request of Kirie is the whole reason they are here. They sat towards the middle, Sasuke sits next to Naruto and Naruto next to Kirie. Sasuke is slouching with his elbow propped up on the armrest, his head resting in his hand, he wears a bored, agonizing look on his face. He looks over to see Naruto and Kirie clutching each other and crying their hearts out because the lead male character bumped his head and forgot his love for the lead female character blah blah blah. Sasuke rolls his eyes.

When Naruto first told Sasuke that Kirie got him into chick-filcs and that he liked them, Sasuke laughed, Naruto also laughed but told Sasuke he was completely serious and then Sasuke asked him, "Who ARE you?" Which caused Naruto to laugh till he cried. But Sasuke was not laughing, he was actually worried that Naruto was changing so much that he would lose him. That scared him. Even though it was something as small as a genre of movies, because movies was something they bonded over. If that changed then that's one less thing they'll have in common.

What would he do if Naruto went and changed and then left him? He couldn't even think of such a thing but what if that happened? " _Ah, no no. Stop thinking about it Sasuke_." Sasuke rolls his eyes at the two lovers and continues to stare at the movie screen as he cuddles into his jacket.

Sasuke can't understand how people enjoy such movies, all they do is make you feel bad. If you happen to be in love with someone but you can't have them, then the only thing those movies are good for is making you feel bad, they make you long even more for that person and it is not enjoyable but people willing watch such things, Sasuke doesn't understand.

The movie finished and Naruto and Kirie stood up, obviously happy with the way the movie ended. Naruto turns to ask Sasuke his thoughts on it but to his dismay, Sasuke was silently asleep. Naruto gives a small smile, knowing Sasuke isn't much of a fan of these kinds of movies and so he starts to shake Sasuke awake.

Sasuke jolts awake and looks around, he looks up at Naruto smiling at him and he smiles too. How can Sasuke not smile when Naruto smiles so brightly towards him?

"The movie finished?" Sasuke yawns and stretches in his seat.

"Yeah, it was really good! I'm guessing you didn't see the end. How much did you see?"

Sasuke stands up and stretches again, all his muscles are tense from sitting in the same position for two hours, "Um, I ain't real sure. I fell asleep towards the beginning, I believe."

"Ah, well you missed a real good movie Sasuke. I can tell you about it?" Kirie smiles towards Sasuke.

"Sure. That'll be fine." Sasuke lies, he fell asleep because he doesn't like these kinds of movies but what do you say in this situation?

"Ah, you don't have to Kirie. Sasuke isn't a big fan of these movies, that's probably why he fell asleep." Naruto comes to Sasuke's rescue.

"Ah, is that so? Well that's fine. In return for making you sit through this movie, why don't you pick the next movie?"

Sasuke smiles, "Sure. But just know I'm totally picking something really gory." Sasuke laughs when he sees Kirie go pale.

Naruto laughs and wraps his arm around Kirie's shoulder, "Bring a bucket, sweetheart."

Kirie lets out a nervous laugh.

The three friends all walked out of the theater and decided to go put some good food in their stomachs.

* * *

"This is your idea of good food?" Kirie looks at the menu, and makes a gagging noise when reading the names of the food.

"Heck yeah, Kirie! Meat and Greet is the best burger joint in town! Don't tell me you ain't never ate here before?"

Kirie looks at Naruto like he has grown two heads, "Why would I eat anything with the name 'Abused Meat with Extra Slime'? That don't sound appetizing at all." Kirie makes a sour face to emphasize.

"Okay, I get the names ain't the best but seriously, it's delicious." Sasuke agrees with Naruto.

The boys just stare at her like she has gone mad.

She laughs and nods her head, "Okay okay, I'll give it a try. If Naruto likes it then it can't possibly be too bad, right?" She gives a small smile and starts to look through the menu.

Naruto and Sasuke look at each other and smile and turn to the menu at the drive-through to order.

They pulled into a parking spot to eat their burgers, Kirie ended up getting the Abused Meat with Extra Slime, Naruto got Pork and Grease and Sasuke got The Piglet.

Kirie hesitates but she takes a bite and slowly chews with a thoughtful look on her face and then suddenly her eyes widen, "This is great!" She exclaims and continues to eat.

Sasuke and Naruto, both happily eating, laugh and yell, "I TOLD YOU SO!" At the same time.

She jumps but smiles and laughs and eats her burger.

"Yo! I have a great idea guys!" Naruto starts bouncing excitedly and Sasuke stares annoyingly at him but Naruto doesn't stop bouncing.

"Okay! We get it! What 'great idea' do you have?" Sasuke makes air quotations when he says '...great idea...' and goes back to eating and Kirie just watches, waiting for Naruto to reveal his plan.

"Okay okay. Let's go get some dog shit and put it on peoples porches and light it on fire and ring the bell so they can come out and step on it!" Naruto explains his plan wildly with his hands moving everywhere as Sasuke tries to not get hit in the head.

Sasuke smiles, it's been a while since he has done anything that fun. Lately he has been the third wheel with Kirie and Naruto, so getting out and doing this will feel good. " I say hell yeah."

"Hell yeah? Alright!" Naruto grabs Sasuke and shakes him. Sasuke just laughs, and balls up everyone's trash and tosses it into the trash can outside the car.

"What? No! I can't do that! Isn't that illegal?"

Sasuke and Naruto look at each other and then back at Kirie and reply, "So?".

"'SO?!' You guys can't go doing that kinds of stuff! Promise me you won't do it, love. "Kirie says worriedly, "I don't want you to get in any trouble you know."

Naruto nods and an awkward silence settles in the car. Naruto looks at the time, it reads 9:45. "Ah, well it looks like it's getting late. I should take you home." Naruto starts the car and starts driving towards Kirie's house.

Kirie sits in the passenger seat with Naruto and after a while they finally settle into a comfortable conversation, Sasuke sits in the middle of the back seat, listening to music. Sasuke clicks 'End of the Line' By Garth Johnson to play as they ride.

" _Tonight I search for answers,_

" _Keep hiding from the truth,_

" _Tonight I will surrender,_

" _For you it is no use..."_

Sasuke stares at Naruto and Kirie talking and laughing together, their faces barely lit by the small lights coming from the radio. The atmosphere is filled with their happy laughter and loving chatter, Sasuke's eyes water, he wishes it was him instead of Kirie sitting up there, laughing and joking with Naruto. He wants to be WITH Naruto.

Kirie looks at Naruto, her eyes full of love for him, she smiles warmly and grabs Naruto's right hand in both of hers.

Naruto squeezes and lets out a huge smile, and Kirie does the same. They continue to talk as if Sasuke isn't there, as if Sasuke never existed at all. They never notice the silent tears Sasuke lets loose in the back seat of Naruto's Ford Explorer.

Sasuke cries in the dark, his whole being longing for Naruto who sits a foot in front of him but he might as well be thousands of feet away. Sasuke has never experienced such a pain before. " _I can't keep doing this. This is so painful."_ Sasuke balls his fists together and tries desperately to hold back his hot tears.

" _So...Here we go..._

" _Right on and again..._

" _It's time to go..._

" _We've reached..._

" _The end of the line,_

" _But we're not letting go,_

" _'Cause there's time on the clock,_

" _And there's things you should know,_

" _It's the end of the line..._ "

Sasuke closes his eyes and listens to the song as they drive, trying to take his mind off of everything that's been weighing on his heart.

* * *

Naruto pulls up to Kirie's house and puts the car in park. Kirie unbuckles her seat belt and turns towards Naruto, "Thank you for another great date! And for introducing me to some new, exotic foods." Kirie laughs and leans in to kiss Naruto.

Sasuke keeps glancing around the car, he feels awkward.

Naruto leans in and they lock lips for a brief second, they both lean back and smile.

Kirie turns towards Sasuke, waves and says goodbye, and then gets out of the car, but she leans back in, "Now, don't you guys go doing anything illegal like that stupid plan earlier, okay?" And then she turns and walks up to her porch. She turns around once last time to blow Naruto a kiss and wave goodbye and then she goes in.

Naruto turns toward Sasuke, "Hey! Get up here in the front seat and let's go get some dog shit and execute my plan! Wooo!"

Sasuke smiles wildly and jumps up in the front, "Let's goooo!"

Naruto puts the car in reverse and then takes off fast.

"Woohoo!" Naruto screams and laughs which causes Sasuke to also laugh.

"Idiot!" Sasuke smiles and laughs along with Naruto.

* * *

After finding some fresh dog poo they went in search of their victim.

"Hey Dork, what about the old dude at the end of our street?"

"Teme! I ain't a dork!"

Sasuke looks at him like he's stupid and then rolls his eyes, "Well?"

"Ah, the old guy. Isn't his name Sarutobi...something?"

"I think so. I don't know much about him except that he like never leaves his house, but I heard that sometime back in the day he was some kind of badass."

"Seriously?" Naruto looks at Sasuke in disbelief.

"Yeah, that's what I heard but it's coming from old ladies that Itachi deals with at his job."

"Right. Isn't he some kinda nurse or something."

"Yeah. So we gonna hit the old man or what?"

"Of course!" Naruto fist pumped the air.

"Well park a few house down."

"Why?"

"Moron! So we don't get spotted! How can we escape easily if we park directly in front of his house? He would see your car and be able to identify it, dobe!"

"Ahh, I see. Good plan. I'll park in front of Mrs. Miles' house."

Naruto and Sasuke pull up in front of Mrs. Miles' house and turn off the car, all the lights flutter off as the boys sit silently in the car.

"It stinks." Sasuke utters holding his nose.

"I know." Naruto whines. "Okay, we have the poo. Sasuke, you got the lighter?"

Sasuke reaches in his left front pocket and pulls out a brown BIC lighter and holds it for Naruto to see, "Right here, Dumbo."

Naruto looks forward, nervousness and determination show on his face, he breathes in deep, "Okay. Let's do it."

Sasuke feels the nervousness as well, this being the first time they will have done it but not the first time talking about it, so the plan should go well. Sasuke nods his head toward Naruto and grabs the door handle and opens it, he slides out and silently shuts the door. Naruto does the same. Both boys move closer together and look around the neighborhood for witnesses. When they see no sign of life they move forward to their victims house.

"Do you think the old man's asleep right now?"

Sasuke looks at his phone, "Hmm, old people tend to go to bed early but some stay up as late as us. It's only 10:14 right now, so maybe not?"

Naruto nods and they continue to his house. Once they reach Sarutobi's neighbor they get into a crouching position so they can sneak more easily without getting caught. They dash to the set of bushes in front of the old man's house and lay down in the grass.

Naruto leans towards Sasuke, his breath coming out in puffs against the cold air, "We're like ninjas ain't we?" He smiles towards Sasuke as he whispers.

Sasuke can't hear, all he can feel is Naruto's warm body temperature in contrast to the cold air, all he feels is Naruto's warm breath against his ear and neck. He shivers, but not because of the cold. "Hehe, yeah. We are defiantly like ninjas" Sasuke breathes.

When Naruto finally leans back, Sasuke breathes a sigh of relief.

"Okay Sasuke. Let's do this. I'll set the poo down and stand at the doorbell, when you get the bag lit, I'll ring and we run back to the bushes. Ready?"

Sasuke nods and they bump fists and make a run towards the porch, ready to light the poo and ditch.

 **A few blocks away**

"So the old man is having a poker match tonight?"

"Yeah, seems so. He said we are gonna bet on who will be buying dinner the next month." The man casts his eyes down, "I'm not any good at poker and and I don't got much money in my bank account."

The other man laughs, "We'll see then, kid. You're new on the force, this game is like a celebration, he'll go easy on you."

"Have you guys always done this whenever someone new gets hired at the police?"

"Yeah, when I was hired, Sarutobi was the Police Chief and he was always holding poker games for his colleagues. But don't worry, he takes it easy on the new guys, Sam."

"That's good. What was it like your first time, Daniel?" Sam looks over at Daniel to see his reaction.

Daniel shivers, "Back then the old man wasn't so gentle, in anything. He is a prankster, ya know. He had some of his retired cop buddies rush in with rifles and make us get on the floor." He pauses, clearly re-playing the moment, "I thought we were gonna die that night until the old geezer started laughing."

Sam's eyes widen as he is still looking at Daniel and then he faces the front, clearly disturbed.

Daniel laughs loudly as he looks at the kid, "No worries, from what I know he don't do those kinds of pranks anymore."

"'From what you know'? That don't sound to reassuring. Anyway, are others coming?"

"Yeah. The others should already be there, I had to catch up on some paperwork so we'll be the last to arrive."

Sam nodded and as he sat back he thought about what horrors might await him.

"Hey kid, text Marvin and tell him we'll be there in a few minutes."

 **Inside Sarutobi's House**

"Hey guys! I just got a text from the newbie, they'll be here in a few minutes. They're just a few blocks away." Marvin said before sipping his beer.

Sarutobi laughed, "Great! Everybody take your places! Marvin you're playing the killer so go wait at the door and everybody else, get in you positions and look dead, make sure your head is in the fake blood!"

Everybody got into their positions, waiting for the Daniel and the new guy.

 **Sarutobi's Porch**

Naruto put the bag of poo down and walks to the doorbell as Sasuke crouches next to it with the lighter.

"Okay Sasuke, light it up. When it gets a good flame, I'll ring." Naruto whispers.

Sasuke lights the bag and a few seconds later the bag is starting to burn pretty good. Sasuke looks to Naruto who says they'll run on the count of three. Naruto counts down on his fingers, 1...2...3! Naruto rings and both boys start to run when the door opens.

"Put your hands in the air!" Marvin yells from the doorway.

Naruto and Sasuke freeze when they see the pistol in the masked man's hands and they throw their hands in the air.

Marvin, who wears a confused look because he don't recognize these kids, notices the burning bag and realizes what's going on. He decides to teach these kids a good lesson. "Alright, you kids get up on the porch. NOW!"

Naruto and Sasuke walk nervously onto the porch, about to wet themselves. They look towards each other, scared to death, trying to think of how to escape.

" _Ahh, we've done it now! We're really gonna die!_ " Sasuke and Naruto both had the same thought.

"Okay, now I want you boys to put out this fire."

Naruto and Sasuke look at each other and then they look around.

"Um, with what sir?" Naruto asks hesitantly.

Marvin laughs, "With your feet moron." He looks at both boys, "Now!"

Naruto and Sasuke both stomp on the bag until the fire goes out, they both look at their poo covered shoes and gag. They both just stand there, scared and wondering what's gonna happen now. They keep their eyes and heads down, too afraid to look anywhere else.

"Okay. Now, leave your shoes out here and go inside the house."

Naruto and Sasuke struggle to take off their nasty shoes and they scramble into the house, they see all the 'dead' bodies and their blood runs cold, their faces pale, they're too scared to even scream. Sasuke and Naruto stand close, gripping each others arms, too scared to even think about separating. All they do now is stare at the ground.

"You kids must be having an unlucky day. Who knew I'd catch some kids today too. Why are you leaving dog poo on this old man's porch. You know him?" Marvin asks the boys, mostly to explain the situation to his buddies.

"Ah, n-no sir. W-we don't know him personally. But, s-sir...w-what are you gonna d-do to us?" Naruto stutters, keeping his head down.

" _Idiot! What kinda question is that?!_ " Sasuke screams internally. He elbows Naruto and gives him a look that screams 'Are you freaking insane'.

Naruto just glances at him and then looks back at the masked man.

"Wow, what a brave thing to ask that guy holding you here." Marvin walks up to Naruto, he notices Naruto tenses and grabs a hold to Sasuke tighter. "Awe, how cute. Look how scared, yet you ask such a brave and stupid question?" Marvin laughs loudly.

Sarutobi lays silently on the floor, barely containing his laughter at the strange situation.

 **Daniel and Sam**

Daniel and Sam pull up to Sarutobi's and park.

"Okay, you ready for poker match with some great fellas?"

Sam nods and gets out of the car, Daniel follows and they both start up to the house.

Daniel glances at Sam, he knows exactly what's gonna go down in Sarutobi's house, Sarutobi never actually quit the scare tactics. He can't wait to see the look on his face. He told Sam the stories so when they went in he could tell him that this time is was not a joke, he wants him to think its a joke and have that brief relief before he tells him it ain't a joke so he can feel so much fear.

They walk up and ring the door bell.

 **Inside the House**

"Stay right here kiddies. I'll go bring in some more playthings." Marvin starts towards the door, it was right down the hall. From where Naruto and Sasuke stood, they could see a small part of the door.

"Oi, Naruto." Sasuke whispers.

"What is it?"

"Let's make a run for the back door."

Naruto frantically looks around seeing if Marvin heard what Sasuke said and then he leaned into Sasuke's left side even more, "Are you crazy? If we get caught, he'll kill us." Naruto whispers violently.

"He's gonna kill us anyway, moron. I, at least, want a fighting chance. " Sasuke whispers back, to scared to even get annoyed at Naruto.

"We ain't got much time, dobe. Let's go."

 **Outside the House**

Marvin opens the door, "Get down! Both of you!"

Sam jumps and looks at Daniel, "I thought you said he doesn't do this anymore!"

Daniel put on a look of pure terror and as him and Sam were getting to their knees, "He doesn't." And Sam about pisses.

 **Inside the House**

Naruto and Sasuke take silent fast steps trying to find the back door without alerting the masked man. They look at the dead bodies and Naruto gags.

"Shh!" Sasuke shushes Naruto, "We gotta keep quiet, dobe."

"I knoooow." Naruto whines.

 **At the Door**

"Alright you two, get in here and keep your mouth shut!" Marvin waves the gun for emphasis.

Daniel and Sam stand up and walk in.

 **Inside the House**

"Ahh! Sasuke! There's the back door!" Naruto, so excited to find the door, screams.

"You idiot! What are you screaming for, moron." Sasuke whispers loudly.

"Oi! What're you kids doing!" Marvin screams.

"Run!" Sasuke yells.

Naruto and Sasuke both, still holding on to each other, run for the back door.

"You two get on the ground and don't move." Marvin yells to Daniel and Sam. They do what their told as Marvin chases after Naruto and Sasuke.

Naruto and Sasuke make it to the door but unfortunately they are grabbed by Marvin before they can open it and make their escape, Naruto yelps and Sasuke turns and punches the guy square in the jaw. Marvin stumbles and Sasuke opens up the door but Marvin grabs Naruto and holds the gun to his head.

"Shut the door kid, unless you want your buddy here to die right now?"

Sasuke scowls and slams the door, he hopes that maybe if he makes enough noise, someone will call the police. Sasuke stands still, trying to come up with a plan to save his and Naruto's lives, if he has too, he will sacrifice himself so Naruto can run for help. Sasuke waits for the right moment to tackle the guy.

"Daniel, what do we do? We are cops, we gotta save these kids." Sam whispers to Daniel.

Daniel just stares at Marvin, not sure what exactly is going on or who these kids are, "Yeah, I know, but this situation is fragile. We can't be reckless."

Sarutobi is laying still but it sounds like things may have gotten out of hand with these kids showing up.

"You, move into the kitchen, slowly." Marvin instructs Sasuke.

Sasuke moves slowly, watching every move of the masked man, waiting for his chance to strike and remove Naruto from his grasp. Sasuke scowls at the man, hating him for putting that gun to Naruto's head. He will make him pay.

After Sasuke is standing in the kitchen close to one of the windows, Marvin releases Naruto and pushes him to Sasuke. Sasuke grabs Naruto so he doesn't fall and he glares at the man. Naruto straightens up and grabs Sasuke's arm again but he doesn't say anything, he just stares at the gun. Sasuke guesses having a gun held to his messed him up some.

Sarutobi realizes it's been long enough and he stands up, fake blood dripping from his head and neck.

Naruto's mouth drops, "What the hell is this?! SAW?!" Naruto screams, totally freaked out and confused to the max, he has no idea what to do.

Sasuke is freaking out as well, he doesn't have words for this situation.

Sarutobi walks over to Marvin and lays a hand on his shoulder to let him know the show is over. Marvin nods and takes off the mask.

Sasuke, confused and angry, scowls, "What. The. HELL. Is going on here!?"

Sarutobi rivals Sasuke's glare but Sasuke doesn't back down, "Did you not hear me old man?!"

"Well son, what happen is you decided to put dog shit on my porch and you got caught up in my prank. But you ain't got no right to be questioning anybody, son. What you two kids was doing is illegal and everyone in this room is a cop and I'm a retired police chief. So, what do you have to say for yourselves?" Sarutobi says, all with his right hand on his hip and fake blood all over his face.

Naruto and Sasuke couldn't say anything, they just stare at all the bloody looking people who stand up and stare at them.

" _T-there c-cops?!"_ Sasuke about fainted.

Naruto just stares with his mouth open.

"Okay guys. Arrest them." Sarutobi says.

"What?!" Naruto says loudly, he looks at Sasuke who isn't that shocked. Sasuke knew, as soon as he heard, that they were getting arrested.

Sasuke scowls and glares.

Naruto is begging to not be arrested.

They were both handcuffed and but in the back of a squad car and Naruto is freaking out and Sasuke is just quiet and then they take what seems like the longest ride ever to the police station.

* * *

When they arrive at the police station, it's 11:45 and they pull Naruto and Sasuke out of the car and drag them inside like common criminals, Naruto is scared and Sasukes annoyed. They push them into a holding cell and and take the cuffs off of them.

"You boys just sit here for a while." Marvin leaves them to each other and their own minds.

"Sasuke, what are we gonna do? How long do you think we'll have to stay here? What about our families? Ahh, what the heck?!" Naruto starts to pace around the cell, pulling at his hair.

"Oi, dobe, calm down! We ain't gonna figure anything out ourselves, so just sit down." Sasuke yells from his seat, his cold hands in his jacket pockets. He pats the seat next too him for Naruto to sit down.

Naruto walks over and sits next to Sasuke and lays his head on Sasuke's left shoulder and sighs. "This is the worst."

Sasuke smiles and leans his head against Naruto's head, "At least I'm with you."

Naruto chuckles and grabs Sasuke's arm again, "Yeah, at least we can be together before we die or go to prison."

Sasuke laughs loudly at that and he places his right hand over Naruto's arm. They sit there side by side laughing and joking together, even in a bad situation.

 **2 hours later**

"Hey kids, come on," Marvin opens the cell, "Your families are here to get you." Marvin stands there with the cell door open, waiting for them to get out.

Naruto stands up and gets on his knees to beg, "Please sir, let me stay here."

Sasuke laughs and Naruto begs, again, and Marvin just stands there, telling them to hurry up.

When they arrive at the front entrance, there they are; A furious Itachi, a disappointed Minato and a very pissed off Kushina, her hair moving like it has a mind of its own. When she sees Naruto, you can tell she wants to run over there to Naruto and do who knows what. And then in walks Kirie, looking just as pissed as Kushina.

Naruto and Sasuke look at each other and simultaneously say, "We are going to die."

* * *

I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! Please tell me everything I am doing wrong and can fix. I hope to write many more stories and I hope to become a great writer so I would be very grateful for informative comments but I also love any kind of comments, I love hearing people say they like my story but I cherish all comments. Thank you for reading!


	4. A Burden

Hey guys! It's been a while. Sorry, I hate that I put things off. Anyway, Happy New Year! I hope y'all enjoy this chapter! Lemme know what you think :D

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke look towards the ground and slowly drag their feet towards their families, scared to look them in the face, scared to see the disappointment and anger in their eyes, scared because that anger and disappointment is directed at them.

"What do you think you guys are doing?!" Kushina yells loudly, causing the boys to wince.

"Kushina. It's better if we handle this at home." Minato says, even though you can clearly see the anger in his face by his narrow eyes and tight jaw, his whole body screams with tension but he puts a hand on his wife's shoulder as a small way to comfort her.

The officers in the building cock their eyes over to the family, taking pity on the boys but finding is funny too since the boys had it coming. This will teach them to play dumb pranks.

Kushina looks at him, still obviously angry and grumbles an okay, she turns to walk out the door but stops, her hand tightly gripping the door handle, "We will definitely talk about this at home." Kushina looks towards her son a glare graces her soft features, but in her glare Naruto can see not only anger but fear and worry, causing Naruto to feel so much more guilty, she turns after looking at her son and then heads towards the car.

Minato looks at Naruto and firmly tells him to come along, he then turns to walk out the door and sees Kirie also fuming, "I'll be in the car with your mother. Don't be too long." He leaves.

"Naruto..." Kirie says through gritted teeth.

Naruto looks up, and sees fury and disappointment in her eyes, he also sees something else. Sadness? Maybe it's also worry?

Kirie walks over to Naruto, tears now running down her face, the anger still there but mostly replaced with betrayal and sadness, "Why'd you lie to me?" Kirie looks down.

Naruto gulps, he don't know what to say. He just wanted to spend some time with Sasuke doing something stupid. Naruto opens his mouth to speak, only to close it again, afraid to say the wrong thing.

Kirie doesn't hear anything come from Naruto which causes her to become red hot again, "Don't you have anything to say?! You're suppose to be my boyfriend! Why are you lying to me!? I can't understand why you promised me you wouldn't do that and then go do it! I didn't want you to do it, not to ruin your fun, but to keep this from happening! Cause I care about you!..." Kirie's tears increase and her voice breaks, "Don't you care for me at all?" She looks up at Naruto, pleading for his words with her eyes. Her voice is desperate, her face is contorted with worry, hurt, but there is hope, hope that Naruto will say the right words so she can just forgive him and stop this stupid fight, hope that Naruto loves her like she loves him, hope that they can move forward after their first fight. Hope that this won't happen again.

Naruto's chest feels like it's going to burst with regret, he looks towards Sasuke to see Itachi talking to him, Sasuke just stands there. His jaw and eyes tense yet still unreadable. Naruto looks back towards Kirie, her teary eyes staring at him hard but he then quickly looks down, he can't stand seeing her hurt like that, he can't stand that she is hurt like this because of him but still, he can't speak.

Kirie balls up her first, fresh tears roll down her already tear stained cheeks, she looks at Naruto and chokes up, she closes her eyes hard as tears continue to roll down, "Idiot!" Kirie turns and runs out the door.

Naruto looks up and reaches for her, telling her to wait but she has already gone. So Naruto stands there, unable to even think about anything so he stands there waiting for Sasuke and Itachi's conversation too finish.

"We'll finish this conversation at home." Itachi mutters, "And if hanging out with Naruto is being a bad influence then I won't allow it anymore." Itachi says loud enough so Naruto can hear.

Naruto looks up, worry all over his face.

Itachi looks hard at Naruto, and then he turns on his heels and walks out the door.

Naruto lightly jogs over to Sasuke, "Are you okay? Is he really gonna stop you from seeing me?"

Sasuke tenses up even more, he feels a knot coming up from his throat, choking him.

"Sasuke?" Naruto tries to get closer.

Sasuke keeps his eyes down, "I gotta go."

And without so much as a goodbye, Sasuke walks out the door, leaving Naruto to himself.

Naruto watches the door close and after a couple minutes to himself he too walks out and gets into his parents car so they can go home and he can be murdered by his parents. Oh! How wonderful!

Naruto lays his head against the window.

" _If I don't see Sasuke tomorrow I'll call the police. Wait! I might be dead by the mornin too!_ "

Naruto tries to open the backdoor of the car, only to fail. He realizes his parents put the child lock on, he tries the other door.

Fail.

Naruto looks at the back of his parents heads, fear flooding his eyes.

"Escape is impossible, Naruto." Kushina says without looking back towards Naruto.

" _They're really gonna kill me, ain't they?_ "

Naruto gulps.

* * *

Sasuke and Itachi finally arrive home. Sasuke looks over at Itachi as he gets out and slams the car door, Sasuke winces. Sasuke watches Itachi take out his keys, unlock the door and go inside without even looking back.

A single tear escapes from Sasuke's eye before he wipes it away roughly.

"Why is he THAT mad...?" Sasuke mumbles to himself before getting out of the car to face his doom.

Sasuke walks up to the door and grabs the handle but pauses, he is nervous. Itachi has never been this mad before.

Itachi sits in the kitchen, waiting.

Sasuke opens the door and walks in, and quietly shuts the door. Sasuke looks around, Itachi is no where in sight so he tries to sneak to his room at the end of the hall before Itachi can stop him.

As Sasuke starts a fast pace to his room, his passes by the kitchen.

"Sasuke."

Sasuke pauses in mid-step.

"Get in here."

Sasuke droops and walks into the kitchen, his eyes cast down to the floor, his hands gripping his jeans so hard they ride up his ankles, he doesn't want to look at the disappointment in his brothers eyes. He doesn't think he could hold back his emotions if he looks.

"Help me understand why I'm getting a call in the middle of the night by the police to come get you for pulling some stupid prank."

Itachi sounds calm.

Sasuke doesn't answer, just keeps his eyes down, trying hard to not let his feelings get outta control.

"You ain't got nothing to say to me?" Itachi narrows his eyes, "Can't you look at me when I'm speaking to you?!"

Sasuke jumps, "I'm sorry.."

Itachi gives a mock laugh, "Sorry? That don't help when the police are involved. You think sorry is gonna fix it cause you wanted to go be stupid with your friend?" Itachi turns his head as his wipes his irritated face, "Maybe you shouldn't be hanging out with him." Itachi says turning his head to face Sasuke again.

Sasuke jerks his head up, "No! You can't do that!"

Itachi furrows his brows, "No? Ain't I your guardian because our parents are dead?"

Sasuke breaks, tears slip down his face.

"What is crying gonna do?! Don't you know how hard I work to support the both of us! Do you know the responsibilities I've had to take on because our parents died!? And now you are getting in trouble with the police!? Why are you being such a burden!? I'm trying my hardest Sasuke." Itachi looks at Sasuke with a tired look, pleading for peace, pleading for rest.

Sasuke casts his eyes down again, he feels dead inside, the one thing Itachi could say to break his heart, he said. The pain is so unbearable that it almost doesn't feel like pain. His tears gradually come to a stop, his heartbeat slows, almost like it's stopped. He is a burden to the one person who took care of him when their parents died, to the one person who he loves the most, his big brother. Sasuke eyes are blank, he feels empty, complete and utter emptiness. First the love of his life chooses someone else over him and he has to pretend and play the best friend and now he finds out that his worst fears, his worse nightmares about him and his brother are true but Sasuke can't feel right now.

Itachi sighs, "I'm going to bed. You're grounded so go to bed too." Itachi gets to the kitchen door and stops, "Give me your phone."

Sasuke reaches into his pocket and casually pulls out his phone and hands it to Itachi and then Sasuke is left alone. After what feels like hours of standing in the kitchen he turns and drags his feet to his room. Sasuke opens the door but doesn't turn on the light, the moon shines in from the window, giving him enough light to see. Sasuke feels cold, he feels dead but he's still alive. He puts on his pajamas and lays down, he pulls the blanket to his chest and lays his arms over top of the blanket, he wants to cry but no tears escape, so Sasuke stares at the glow-in-the-dark stars all over his ceiling, trying to find at least a small amount of peace.

Sasuke feels heavy, his whole body feels numb, he feels like dying, nobody would miss him anyway. Itachi would finally be free and Naruto would get to spend even more time with Kirie, all his friends would be fine anyway. All those people will finally be free of him. So it doesn't matter, maybe he should kill himself. Wouldn't it be so easy to die? To just lay here and die?

No, these thoughts are just a desperate way to achieve peace quickly, maybe he'll just move out and go far away, so he can live his own life. That seems best, Sasuke will put up with pain a little while longer until he can be free. Until he can finally be free of everyone else, so he can continue his life. Death won't solve nothing. Death isn't the freedom he wants.

Sasuke then closes his tired and swollen eyes, he falls into a gentle sleep after have founding a little bit peace.

* * *

Naruto opens his still tired eyes, his parents really gave it to him last night and he barely got any sleep but he yawns and sits up as the alarm on his phone goes off. He reaches for his phone and turns off the alarm, "Time for school." Naruto yawns again, he thinks of Sasuke and how he might be doing after last night, so he decides to text Sasuke, hoping he isn't dead.

" **Yo Sasu, everything good?** "

Naruto presses send and decides to eat breakfast while waiting for Sasuke's response so he leaves his room and heads to the kitchen. As he walks into the kitchen he sees his mum. His dad works in an office and has to go in the early morning, so Naruto sits down and Kushina puts a plate of eggs, bacon and pancakes in front of him.

"Thanks."

Kushina nods and then sits down herself to eat breakfast, "You are to come home right after school."

Naruto looks at his mum and can tell she is still upset about last night, well, technically this morning. Naruto looks at his phone to see if Sasuke has replied, and nothing.

Naruto sighs.

"Do you understand?" Kushina is looking at him now, waiting for his reply.

Naruto looks up, he forgot that she was even talking to him, "Y-yeah. Okay."

Kushina looks at him suspiciously but continues to eat.

Naruto finishes and heads off to school.

* * *

Sasuke wakes up, the sun beating into his eyelids. Sasuke pulls his forearm over his eyes, as he sighs from annoyance. He lays there for a few minutes, willing himself to fully awake.

Sasuke sits up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He rubs his face, yawning and then he looks at his clock and he groans, he doesn't feel like going to school but he doesn't wanna spend time here either. Being grounded means he has to come straight home after school but why? It's not like Itachi cares anyway.

Sasuke smirks, he has a plan and he is gonna ask Naruto if he wants to go along with it.

"I bet the dobe will love to skip school with me." Sasuke then proceeds to get up and get ready, he ain't got his phone so he'll have to go to school to meet Naruto.

"Since Naruto has a car it will be easier getting to where I wanna go."

* * *

Sasuke arrives at school and there waiting for him at the front door, freezing his butt off, is none other than Naruto. Sasuke stops and stares, he watches Naruto shiver, holding his arms with both hands, trying to desperately stay warm even though it isn't working. Sasuke actually smiles at this, trying not to bust out laughing.

" _Ahh! It's sooooo cold! When is Sasuke gonna get here?!_ " Naruto shivers, his teeth chattering and then Naruto turns his head and sees Sasuke standing there, watching him and smirking," _Is he frigging laughin at me?! That teme!_ " Naruto runs over towards him and punches him in the arm, "Are ya laughin at me, teme?!"

Sasuke chuckles, "How can I not, dobe? You look funny freezing your butt off."

Naruto's furrows his brows, "I was waitin for you, idiot! I was gonna see if you were okay, but ya know what? Nevermind." Naruto pretends to not care as he turns to head into the school.

Sasuke laughs out allowed.

Naruto turns around and smiles, "Come on, teme!" Naruto waves at Sasuke to come, "The bell will ring soon!"

"Wait! Naruto! C'mere!" Sasuke walks to Naruto's car that's parked near the school entrance.

Naruto gives Sasuke a curious look but trails after him anyway.

"What is it, Sasuke?"

"I'm skipping school today and I want you to come with me. Plus, we have your car so it will make things easier."

"Skipping school? But Sasuke, you haven't ever done that."

"So? I am now. Let's go." Sasuke nods his head towards the car.

"Sasuke, I can't. I have to go straight home after school. If my parents found out about this then I would die for sure and if Itachi finds out then he might keep you away from me. Come on, let's just go to school."

"No! I don't wanna go to school, I don't wanna go home! I just...I just..." Sasuke takes off in the other direction, away from the school.

Naruto chases him but Sasuke is too fast, so Naruto loses him.

Naruto stops to breathe, wondering why Sasuke freaked out. Maybe Sasuke is just gonna go home. Naruto tries not to worry but he goes back to school. He'll text Sasuke later to make sure he is okay.

* * *

After finally losing Naruto, Sasuke was able to slow his pace and walk. Sasuke has been walking for 40 minutes down the road, trying to get out of the town. But at this rate it will take him forever to get where he wants to go. So Sasuke sticks out his thumb, he is gonna hitchhike.

After 15 minutes of the combination of walking and waiting for someone to pick him up, someone finally pulls over and rolls down the window.

Sasuke jogs up to the window, there is a young guy driving, he looks around 25 but he looks like a normal dude.

"Where ya headed?"

"I'm just heading a few miles north."

The stranger seems to contemplate but nods his head for Sasuke to get in.

Sasuke smiles, he is excited. Thrilled since this is his first time hitchhiking, "Thanks man. I really appreciate this."

The stranger gives a small smile, "No problem. I've done right much hitchhiking myself. I know it can be difficult so for the people who took me in, I wanna do that for someone too."

Sasuke smiles and thanks the man again.

"Just give me directions to where you're goin'"

Sasuke nods.

* * *

Itachi had to work overtime so he is getting home late now, around 9:00 pm. He walks through the front door figuring Sasuke is locked up in his room. Itachi just wants to get into bed, he has to get up earlier than usual tomorrow.

Itachi drags his feet to his room and changes into his pajamas, he then goes to the kitchen to eat something quick so he can get to bed, so he makes himself some cereal.

As Itachi eats he thinks about last night, guilt crept up on him this morning and so all day he has been feeling like crap. Itachi couldn't wait to get home so he could clear some things up with his little brother. He doesn't think Sasuke is a burden but he was so stressed, so mad, so worried and it was all jumbled together and he ended up saying things he shouldn't have so he wants to apologize and talk to Sasuke more calmly and explain some things to him.

Itachi washes out his bowl and heads to Sasuke's room. He stops at the door and knocks, "Sasuke, can I come in?"

Nothing.

Itachi knocks again.

Nothing.

"Sasuke?" Itachi opens the door, revealing a dark and empty room.

"Sasuke?!" Itachi turns on Sasuke's light, he then searches the rest of the house.

Nothing.

He thinks about calling but remembers that he has Sasuke's phone.

"What do I do?" Itachi is panicking, still searching the whole house.

Then he thinks of Naruto and calls.

"Hello?" Naruto answers with a mouth full of food.

"This is Itachi."

Naruto swallowed his food, "Something wrong?"

Itachi grips his phone tighter, trying to remain calm, "Is Sasuke there with you?"

He hears Naruto's chair hit the ground as Naruto stands up too quickly, "No. Is he not home?"

Panic.

"No. Do you know something?"

Naruto's face twists into worry, his parents, who were sitting around the table with Naruto are now fully at attention, worry easily seen on their faces, "Well, we met at school earlier and he wanted me to go with him somewhere and skip school."

Panic.

"Where was he wanting to go?" Itachi feels tears stinging his eyes.

"I don't know. I told him I couldn't go and then he just ran off, I ran after him but I thought he would just go home since he needed my car to get there. Are you sure he's not there?"

Itachi can hear the panic, the worry and the tears from Naruto over the phone.

"Naruto."

"Yes?" Naruto says, now sobbing.

"Will you come over here and help me find him?" Tears are freely streaming from Itachi's face now, "Please. I need to find him."

Naruto nods, wiping his tears on his sleeve even though tears continue to fall and then he remembers he is on the phone, "Yeah, I'll be right over."

* * *

Intense? I hope. :) I hope y'all liked it. I hope to write the next chapter soon. But I hope y'all have a great new year and I hope y'all enjoy my stories. I plan on writing a whole lot this year! Please look for me! xD


	5. If I go, I'm goin

Hey guys! I'm know this is going up after so long but it's finally here and I hope you guys enjoy! When I first started this story I wasn't sure about it but the more I write, the more I fall in love with it so I hope y'all are also falling in love with it too. Thank you for all the views and reviews, they mean a lot to me! Thanks and enjoy!

* * *

Naruto stares out the car window through blurry eyes, the lights and figures just pass him by, his heartbeat unable to slow down from it's rapid beating. He plays with with his shaky fingers as his mind races in every direction, wondering if Sasuke is okay, wanting so bad to see his best friend. Naruto plays his last interaction with Sasuke from earlier over and over again in his head, he should have known, he should have been there for him. If something happens to Sasuke, then it's his own fault and he can't live knowing that. These thoughts smash their way into Naruto's brain the whole ride to Itachi's house.

Itachi sits in the living room chair, waiting and watching the clock. He sighs, angry at Sasuke for doing this and so so worried, "When I get my hands on him..." Itachi grips the armrest. He closes his eyes, trying to focus on finding Sasuke, trying to focus on him being safe. When Itachi hears a car pull up, he stands and walks to open the front door. As he walks out, he sees Kushina, Minato and Naruto get out of their car. When they turn to Itachi, he can see the worry on their faces and that makes him so grateful too have people who care about him and his little brother.

"Hey Itachi." Kushina walks up and puts a gentle, reassuring hand on his shoulder.

Itachi nods, thankful for their presence.

Minato flashes a sad smile his way, "We'll find him, Itachi."

And Naruto doesn't even look him in the eyes, he keeps his head down, his arms folded over his chest.

"Come in." Itachi says, leading the way into his house and towards the living room.

* * *

Sasuke sits on the branch of this huge weeping willow tree, staring up into the night sky, filled with shiny stars.

Sasuke and Naruto found this tree a while back, they thought how beautiful and amazing it was as they climbed onto the huge branch, they sat their talking for hours. They decided on it being their secret spot and so they named it, "Willow Branch". Simple, but fitting.

But it's been a while since they last came, a few months. Since Naruto started dating Kirie.

Sasuke closes his eyes when a cold breeze passes by, brushing against his already cold skin, his hair tickles his red nose. Sasuke sucks in a deep breath and then lets out a deep sigh as tears make their way passed his closed eyelids. The pain in his throat now unbearable from holding in his tears and pain. The tears slowly stroll down his face, they sparkle from the moon's reflection. Sasuke shivers and curls more into himself, more tears falling from his eyes. He chokes, a pained cry escapes his mouth as he allows the tears to run freely. He thinks back on everything; slowly losing Naruto, getting told that he is a burden by his big brother the thing he never wanted to hear, unrequited love. He thinks on everything that hurt him from the time he could remember; the loss of his parents, the hugs from his mother whenever he was hurt, the smile he would get from his father when he was proud, and the laughter he got from playing with his big brother.

Sasuke grabs his chest, his lungs painfully cold. The tears on his face hurt when the cold wind hits them. Sasuke cries, desperate for his mother's love, his father's encouraging smile. He cries for the loss of a family, the loss of a friend and the loss of his first love. He cries feeling like his also lost himself, he cries with hate towards the world, he cries because he still believes in hope and love, he cries with wants and ifs.

He screams into the big night sky, he screams until his throat is raw, he screams wanting the world and the moon to hear his pain, he screams, and he screams, and he screams.

* * *

Naruto didn't look at Itachi the whole time when explaining the interaction between him and Sasuke earlier. Heck, he can't even really see straight, the tears keep his eyes all blurry.

"Did you call the police, Itachi?" Kushina questions.

"Yeah..."Itachi looks towards the ground, "...they said there ain't much they could do with a runaway but they'll send a car around the town looking anyway."

Kushina huffs, "Of course they ain't gonna help."

"Itachi, how should we get around to finding him?" Minato says as he grabs his wife's hand to calm down her temper.

Kushina squeezes Minato's hand as she reaches to hold Itachi's hand too.

Itachi looks up and gives a small, thankful smile.

Naruto keeps his head down, his head flying through thought after thought.

"I don't know. Naruto said he didn't say where he wanted to go. I don't have the slightest clue as to where he is." Itachi shakes his head, frustrated. His expression contorted from worry.

Naruto isn't really listening, his regret and sorrow is overpowering. He feels so much regret from not chasing after Sasuke earlier. He could be dead and it would be his fault. Just that thought alone sends more tears pouring from his blurry eyes. His brows are knitted together so tight, Naruto wonders if they'll freeze that way. Naruto's thoughts continue to spiral down a hole until he faintly hears his name being called, when he comes too, everyone is surrounding him, their worried expressions now aimed towards him.

"Naruto? Are you okay?" Kushina wraps her arms around him.

New tears freshly stream down Naruto's face.

"Naruto, you have to calm down. You know Sasuke best, we need you to help find him, k?" Minato tries to calm him.

"Naruto. Sasuke will be okay but we need to find him, please, do you know anything? Any places he loves to go?" Itachi looks at him, desperate for answers.

Naruto looks at Itachi's expression and feels even more guilty for wallowing in pity instead of helping find Sasuke. The past is the past and right now means everything. Naruto's tears don't stop but he tries his best to think of every place Sasuke loves.

"Naruto." Kushina smiles.

Naruto looks up towards his mum.

"Why don't you go up to Sasuke's room and think for a little bit. It might help."

Naruto nods and stands, fast-walking towards his room.

Once in there, Naruto sighs as tears and memories flood over him. He remembers their late night talks, there sleepovers, the karaoke nights and the movie nights. He remembers all the years and memories that make up their bond. A painful yelp fills the silent room as he walks further into his best friends room.

"This is no time to cry, Uzumaki. Sasuke needs you." Naruto, now determined, looks around the room for a clue.

* * *

Sasuke sits on the big branch with his back against the trunk of the tree, he takes his MP3 and headphones from his pocket and proceeds to listen to music, hoping to calm his nerves and distract him from the pain.

He looks through his music, looking for a song that speaks to him at this current moment, after a couple minutes he finds, "Hold My Heart" by Tenth Avenue North. He sits back and watches the night sky as the music fills his ears.

"How long must I pray, must I pray to You

How long must I wait, must I wait for You

How long 'till I see Your face

See You shining through..."

Sasuke closes his eyes, finding pleasure in the music and lyrics.

"I'm on my knees

Begging You to notice me..."

A tear slips from Sasuke's eyes as he relates to the music.

"I'm on my knees

Father, will You turn to me, yeah?

One tear in the dropping rain

One voice in a sea of pain

Could the Maker of the stars

Hear the sound of my breaking heart?..."

Sasuke opens his eyes, his eyebrows knit together in sadness as he looks to the moon, more tears flowing from Sasuke's red eyes.

"One life is all I am

Right now I can barely stand

If You're everything You say You are

Would You come close and hold my heart?

I've been so afraid, afraid to close my eyes

So much can slip away before I say goodbye

But if there's no other way

I'm done asking why..."

Sasuke pauses the music and takes a deep breath as he begins to look for another song, maybe one not so sad. He finds, "All I Want" by Kodaline. The music starts.

"All I want is nothing more

To hear you knocking at my door

'Cause if I could see your face once more

I could die as a happy man I'm sure

When you said your last goodbye

I died a little bit inside

I lay in tears in bed all night

Alone without you by my side..."

Sasuke sighs knowing it's gonna be a long night.

* * *

Naruto looks around the room and scrambles around in his head looking for places, for clues. He looks at the pictures Sasuke has on his walls, pictures of them, mostly and pictures of him and Itachi and pictures of his parents. Naruto looks around the pictures some more and sees a spot where one use to be. Naruto looks more closely, one's missing. A clue. Naruto looks around Sasuke's room for the missing picture, hoping that will shed some light on his where-a-bouts.

He looks in Sasuke's draws and notebooks but nothing, maybe he carried it with him? Naruto sighs, about to give up looking for the picture when he remembers that Sasuke use to keep his journals and other personal items under his mattress. Naruto runs over to the twin bed and raises up the mattress.

There! The picture lies face down near the head of the bed.

Naruto grabs it and sets the mattress back down, he then sits on the bed. Adrenaline pumping through his veins now. He turns the picture around and tears slip down his face when he sees what's on the front.

It's a picture from a few months ago, it's Sasuke and Naruto sitting together on a huge branch, smiling towards the camera. You can see part of the big weeping willow tree in the background.

Naruto knows now where Sasuke is and it pains him that he didn't know right from the start. How could he forget about their secret spot, Willow Branch. Another tear falls from his eye as his runs down to his parents and Itachi, screaming that he knows where he is.

Itachi and everyone jump up when they hearing Naruto screaming and bounding down the stairs.

"Naruto? What's wrong?" Kushina asks worriedly.

Naruto bolts into the kitchen with a huge smile on his face, "I know where he is!"

"What?! Really? Where?" Itachi quickly asks, running towards Naruto.

"Okay okay, well a while ago me and Sasuke found this huge tree just a little ways outside the town, it has a huge branch me and Sasuke would sit on it. We named it Willow Branch. He's there, I know it!" Naruto talks widely with his hands still holding the picture.

"You sure?" Minato asks.

"Yes! Yes! We ain't got time to explain, let's go!"

Everyone nods and starts for the door.

"Itachi? Why don't you ride with us?" Kushina asks with a small smile.

Itachi hesitates but agrees anyway.

Everyone piles into the car, Naruto and Itachi get into the back and Kushina and Minato in the front. They start the car and head towards Sasuke. Naruto leading the way.

* * *

Sasuke listened to his music for a while but he got tired of crying because of it so he put it back in his pocket. Since then he has just listened to the wind moving the trees around. He knew he needed to get home, but he didn't have it in him to move, even if it meant him sleeping in a tree all night freezing his bum off. So he sat there watching a plane fly past in the sky, he watches the light on the plane blink on and off as it makes it's journey forward, he kinda wishes he was on the plane right now, escaping to a whole new place where he could change his name, his hair and make a new family and find a new love. But that's lucky wishing and Sasuke don't believe in luck anymore. He stopped a long time ago.

Sasuke starts to hum a lullaby Itachi use to sing to him as a small child whenever he was upset about losing their parents. When the song comes close to an ending he sees headlights out of the corner of his eye. Sasuke stops humming and jumps down from the tree and hides behind the trunk, reading to run if he needs too.

The car shuts off and the lights go out.

That's when he sees Naruto and his parents and Itachi get out of the car.

Sasuke can't breath. They're actually here.

How? He figured Naruto would've forgotten by now and there is no way any of the others could know.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yells, his hands cupping around his mouth to make him sound louder.

Sasuke knows he can't run, not now after seeing Naruto. He sighs and walks out in the light of the full moon. His body tense, he knows he is in big trouble but it can't be any worse after what Itachi already told him. He doesn't care what they say.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yells when he sees him. He takes off running towards Sasuke, happy tears streaming down his face.

Everyone turns to look at Sasuke and he folds under heavy stares, he doesn't look at anyone. Especially Itachi.

Naruto runs up to him, looking like a mess. He grabs Sasuke and hugs him tightly, bawling his eyes out, "You're here! Thank goodness!"

Sasuke wraps his arms around Naruto and grabs his shirt, as a whirlpool of emotions explode in his chest. Love, regret, anger, relief, hate, and happiness. Sasuke didn't know the warmth of another person could feel so good. But this isn't just any person, this is Naruto, Sasuke's one and only love.

Everyone had made their way over to Sasuke while the boys were hugging, happy tears stream down Kushina's cheeks, Minato hugs Itachi. Relief washing over everyone.

"Sasuke, what happened, sweetheart?" Kushina speaks.

Naruto lets go of Sasuke but stays close as Kushina hugs Sasuke too.

"I don't know." Came Sasuke's weak reply, his throat raw from screaming.

"I know."

Everyone looks at Itachi when he spoke, everyone except Sasuke.

"You do?" Naruto asks curiously.

Tears now stream down Itachi's face as he says the next few words, "It's my fault."

Silence.

"How?" Kushina asks without trying to sound accusing.

"After we got back from the police station, me and Sasuke fought and I told him that he was a burden. And that wasn't all." Itachi cries harder.

Sasuke can feel tears drip onto the ground, he still doesn't look towards Itachi.

Itachi walks up to Sasuke and drops onto his knees, he holds on to Sasuke's knees, he looks up to Sasuke.

Sasuke is surprised by Itachi's actions and he can't look away from his eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Sasuke. I was so mad and I said so many horrible things to you. I'm so very sorry Sasuke. You are the last person in this whole universe that I'd every wanna hurt. Please, forgive Sasuke. And please, please don't ever do this again. I can't bare the thought of losing you..." Itachi chokes, tears and snot streaming from his eyes and nose, "...I love you so much, little brother."

Sasuke falls to the ground in front of Itachi, crying. He wraps his arms around his big brother and cries into the crevice of Itachi's neck.

Itachi hugs him tightly, almost crushing him. Itachi cries as he holds on to his little brother, "Don't you ever leave me again, ya hear?"

Sasuke nods, afraid that his voice won't work.

"Let's go home, okay?" Itachi asks Sasuke as he starts calming down.

Sasuke nods and they stand.

* * *

The drive home was spent in mostly peace, aside from Naruto's constant yapping, but Sasuke couldn't help but enjoy listening to him. Sasuke sat in between Naruto and Itachi and he enjoyed the closeness of them both. He felt warm.

They arrived at Itachi and Sasuke's house, everyone is tired and ready for bed. Itachi and Sasuke get out and soon follows Naruto.

"Naruto, what are you doing?" Minato asks.

"I'm staying with Sasuke. After all this, I can't just leave him."

"I don't need a babysitter, dobe."

"Oh, you don't? Who was it that ran away then?"

"Just shut up."

Kushina, Minato and Itachi all laugh at the kids bickering.

"Okay, Naruto. You can stay." Kushina says smiling.

"Alright!" Naruto yells.

"You're too excited! We are just going to bed, idiot!" Sasuke starts walking towards the house.

"So? I haven't stayed here in a while." Naruto says smiling and following Sasuke into the house.

Itachi shakes his head at their bad manners, "Thanks for everything you two. I really appreciate it." Itachi smiles thankfully.

"It's no problem. We're all family." Minato returns Itachi's smile.

"Call us anytime." Kushina gives a smile of her own.

"Goodnight." Itachi waves.

"Night!" Kushina and Minato yell simultaneously as they start backing down the drive way.

Itachi goes into the house and tells the boys goodnight before he starts off to bed, completely worn out, physically and mentally. It's only seconds before he is out.

Sasuke and Naruto change into pajamas and lay down in Sasuke's twin bed.

"Why you always get to sleep on the outside?" Whines Naruto.

"Because it's my bed, dobe. Now go to sleep."

Naruto huffs and then smiles, he wiggles closer to Sasuke until he is pressed completely up against him and he lays his head down onto Sasuke's shoulder, and he drapes his arm across Sasuke's abdomen, "Night."

Sasuke blushes, his heartbeat racing, "What're you doin?" He is sure that Naruto can hear his heartbeat.

"Going to sleep."

"Get off. I can't sleep like this." Sasuke tries to push him off, scared that Naruto will find out about his feelings.

"I'm comfy so I ain't moving. Deal." Naruto tightens his grip.

Sasuke struggles some more before finally giving up on removing Naruto and decides instead to try calming himself.

After several agonizing minutes of trying to compose himself, he hears Naruto snore and Sasuke smiles at that. He smiles because he is relieved and because Naruto is so cute.

Sasuke enjoys knowing that Naruto is here with him instead of with Kirie, he enjoys Naruto snuggling with him. Maybe there is some luck after all. He closes his eyes and breathes in Naruto's scent, he feels Naruto's warmth seeping into him every second.

As he snuggles more into Naruto, he too gently nods off into a land of dreams filled with nothing but Naruto.

* * *

I hope y'all liked it! I'll try to update the next chapter soon! Thanks for reading! I love all y'all who read!


	6. Stone Cold

Hello hello readers! I know, I'm posting this kinda late and I'm sorry but it's here now! And I hope you enjoy reading! Please, leave me advice or opinions or anything in the reviews. I love to hear your thoughts on my story! Thanks to everyone who reads!

* * *

Christmas is next week and Kushina, Minato and Naruto are going on their yearly trip to the Christmas parade in the next city over and are currently getting packed and ready so they can leave in the up and coming early morning.

"You did what?"

"We invited Sasuke, dear, like always. Itachi isn't able to come this year cause of work but what's the problem?"

"The problem is, I was gonna invite Kirie so we could spend some time together. It took her forever to forgive me for the whole lying to her and going to jail thing." Naruto whines.

"Well, they both can come, honey. Sasuke has been having a hard time recently."

"Ugh, I'm going to call Kirie." Naruto stomps off, up to his room.

Kushina looks at Minato, "What is that about? Usually he would be so excited to have Sasuke come."

Minato smiles, "He has a girlfriend, so it's only natural that he would wanna spend time with her. He has known Sasuke just about his whole life."

Kushina pouts, "Why did he have to have a girlfriend anyway?"

* * *

Naruto ran up to his room and grabs his phone, dialing Kirie's number in a hurry, after countless rings, Naruto finally hears her pick up.

"Hi Naruto!" Kirie smiles on the other side of the phone.

"Kirie!" Naruto practically glows.

"Hey, my parents and I are going to a Christmas parade early tomorrow morning in the next city and we are gonna a week. Come with me." Naruto says hurriedly, his excitement overflowing.

"Ah, sorry babe, I can't. My parents are having some kinda dinner with my family."

"Oh really? Man, that sucks! I really want you to come." Naruto whines and falls back onto his bed.

"I'm really sorry."

"Yeah, it's fine. Maybe another time. Well, I gotta get ready, I'll call you later. Bye, love you."

"Bye, I love you too."

Naruto hangs up and buries his face in his pillow, "Ugh! This sucks!"

* * *

Sasuke walks up to Naruto's house with his suitcase and rings the bell.

Kushina walks up to the door, "Sasuke! I'm so glad you're going with us!"

Sasuke smiles, "Me too. I love going with y'all on trips."

Kushina invites him in, "You can go ahead up to Naruto's room. Don't forget we are leaving real early."

Sasuke smiles and nods then walks upstairs to Naruto's room and opens the door, "Yo dobe!"

Naruto looks up and gives a small smile, "Hey, teme."

Sasuke senses something is off but decides ignore it, "You ready to wake up at five in the morning?"

Naruto groans in his pillow, "No! Of course not!"

Sasuke laughs as his sets his stuff against the wall and crawls into bed next to Naruto, "Well, lets get some sleep then." Sasuke gets up and turns the light out before returning to the bed.

Naruto turns his head and looks at Sasuke, "You're probably right. G'night."

Sasuke looks at Naruto and a small blush spreading across his face because of their close distance, "Uh, yeah. Night." Sasuke turns over to face away from him.

Naruto turns and faces his wall, their backs touching each other.

Sasuke's heartbeat races as he stares wide-eyed at the door as he tries to keep himself calm.

While Naruto just drifts off, feeling sorry for himself that his girlfriend isn't going with them.

* * *

It's five in the morning on the dot when Kushina goes into the boy's room, yelling and hitting pots together to get them to wake up and get ready, startling them from their sleep.

Sasuke falls off the bed as Naruto jolts up on his knees in his bed, they both look towards the sound of the noise and see Kushina with the pots.

She smiles triumphantly and walks out of the room.

"Man, your mum is trying to give us a heart attack." Sasuke says once he calms down.

"Believe me, I know." Naruto pulls the blanket over his head.

"Come on, dobe. Get up. Who knows what she'll try next if we ain't awake." Sasuke gets up and pulls at the blanket.

Naruto keeps the blanket firm in his grip, "I don't wanna get up."

"Come on dobe!" Sasuke says through gritted teeth, still pulling the blanket, "I don't wanna find out the other ways Kushina plans to wake us!"

They hear a knock at the door and then the gentle voice of Kushina, "You boys up?"

Naruto bolts up and is standing beside Sasuke when Kushina opens the door slightly, "Good. I was afraid I'd have to go with Plan B." Kushina smiles as she shuts the door.

The boys stand there horrified.

"I do not wanna know what Plan B is." Sasuke says shivering.

"Yeah, that gentle tone she uses is horrifying." Naruto agrees.

* * *

The boys had gotten ready and had eaten breakfast and are now loading up in the car; Minato is driving and Kushina is next to him in the passenger seat and Naruto and Sasuke are in the back, some of their luggage is sitting next to the boys so they had to squeeze in closer together.

"Man, there isn't a whole lot of room huh?" Naruto whines as he looks at the luggage on the other side of Sasuke, "I hope my door don't open cause I'll be falling out." Naruto gives the door a firm pull as he talks.

"Don't worry dobe. You'll be perfectly fine, you are next to me after all. Do you think I'll let you fall that easily?" Sasuke smirks.

Naruto puts a hand to his heart, "Oh my hero!"

Sasuke laughs as Naruto hits him, "Yeah right, teme! I can save myself!"

The boys continue laughing and playing around as the time passes; they watched a movie and played games and talked for hours as they traveled to the city. Eventually, as the time went by, the darkness and moon settled in and the boys got sleepy. Sasuke fell asleep on Naruto's shoulder and Naruto was asleep with his head against the door.

Naruto awoke before Sasuke and when he opens his eyes he sees bright city lights against the dark skies, he smiles and sucks in a deep breath, excitement flooding through his veins. He then looks towards the sleeping Sasuke on his shoulder, city lights reflecting on his pale skin, showing his peaceful face as they pass by, Naruto chuckles lightly as he looks towards his parents next, Kushina and Minato share a light conversation on the city and the Christmas lights as Suitcase by Matthew Koma plays on the radio. Naruto smiles again and turns back to the window as he leans his head back against it, watching the lights pass.

* * *

Sasuke opens his eyes and sees the inside of the car and outside he sees the city, Sasuke smiles and then looks down and sees he is laying against Naruto and he blushes and raises up.

Naruto looks at him and smiles, "Yo, sleepyhead."

Sasuke rubs his tired eyes, "We here?"

"Almost. We will be there in a few minutes." Kushina says looking back at both boys.

Sasuke smiles and looks towards Naruto.

Naruto also smiles.

And then Kushina yells, "We're here!"

The boys jump as they look towards Kushina who is now bouncing up and down in her seat and the boys bust out into laughter as they pull into the motel parking lot.

Minato parks and everyone climbs out of the car and as Minato goes to check in, the others attempt to get their luggage.

Kushina opens the doors and the boys realize just how much Kushina and Minato actually brought.

"Mum, do you really need that much luggage for only a week?" Naruto asks with an incredulous look.

Kushina looks at Naruto like he is an idiot, "I'm a woman, Naruto. I need my outfits and makeup. I need to look great for this parade."

Sasuke laughs out loud, doubling over at the look Naruto wore on his face.

Naruto pouts angrily and yells at Sasuke to stop which make Sasuke laugh harder, to the point where it looks like he is laughing but no sound is coming out, which, in turn, makes Naruto and Kushina laugh.

When Minato walks up and witnesses the fit of laughter from the three of them, he looks nervous to walk over until Kushina sees him and tries to control herself as she walks to him.

"You got the keys, honey?" Kushina says through her laughter.

Minato nods and looks at her curiously, "What's so funny?"

Kushina shakes her head, "Nothing, dear." She stops laughing and hollers at the boys to grab the stuff and come on.

* * *

After Naruto and Sasuke finish dragging all of Kushina and Minato's bags in, they bring in their own and take showers and then get dressed for the first part of the parade that has already begun.

"You boys coming?" Kushina yells from the outside of the motel.

The boys hurry, grabbing their stuff and bolt out the door.

"Yes mum! We are here!" Naruto yells.

They all start walking down the sidewalk since the parade is going on close by and driving would be too troublesome.

"Do you think it's gonna be big?" Sasuke asks Naruto.

Naruto ponders for a second, looking into the dark sky, "Probably, I doubt Mum and Dad would come otherwise."

Sasuke nods, "I hope it's more than a parade. I hope they have a place with lights where you can go walk around."

Naruto nods, agreeing.

"They do, Sasuke. Don't worry." Minato looks back towards him.

"Really?" Sasuke asks excitedly.

Minato smiles and nods, "Why don't you boys go there later."

Sasuke looks at Naruto, "Will you go with me?"

"Of course, teme! You think I'd let you go off by yourself and leave me?" Naruto punches Sasuke's arm lightly.

Sasuke chuckles and nods, a small blush spreading across his face, "Then let's go tomorrow?" He asks hopeful.

Naruto smiles and nods, "Sure, sounds good!"

Sasuke smiles so hard that his cheeks turn red, his eyes sparkle with happiness.

* * *

They finally come up on the parade, there are floats and Christmas music and people dancing.

Kushina gets excited and grabs onto Minato to drag him to the parade as the boys laugh and try to catch up, but before they do, Kushina and Minato have already disappeared in the crowd.

Naruto looks at Sasuke, "Guess it's just me and you."

Sasuke nods and shyly turns away and watches the parade.

They stand side by side as the floats pass and the music plays on, they laugh and watch the parade together.

The happiness Sasuke feels cannot be described, because he is with the person he loves most and his love is pouring out of his body as he jokes and laughs with Naruto. He feels like he is completely grounded to his spot next to Naruto, like he could stand here forever as long as Naruto was here beside him. The love he feels is overflowing and he feels hope; hope that he could actually be with Naruto, that maybe Naruto could possibly love him back.

Sasuke looks at Naruto's side view, he is smiling, watching the parade as lights flicker across his face, Sasuke blushes and feels a tear escape from his eye. Surprised he turns wipes it away, he then turns back to Naruto and watches him.

Naruto turns to Sasuke still smiling, and then turns back to watch the next float.

Sasuke blushing, turns to watch the floats.

* * *

The parade finishes and Minato and Kushina find Naruto and Sasuke chatting in the same spot, they walk back and get ready for bed.

They all climb into bed and everyone almost immediately falls asleep.

Minato and Kushina fall asleep in each other's arms.

Sasuke falls asleep with a happy smile on his face.

And Naruto falls asleep after checking his phone for messages from Kirie.

* * *

Sasuke is the first to awake, and immediately he smells food and coffee. He slowly raises up and looks around the room, he sees Minato setting food and drinks down on the small table in the room, Sasuke stomach growls and he gets up and heads to the table.

"Mmm, food." Sasuke says almost drooling.

"Yes, Minato went out and bought biscuits and waffles. Will you wake up Naruto?"

Sasuke nods and walks back over to the bed but then he smiles and slowly crawls onto the bed and stands up, wobbling a little, he then jumps on Naruto, screaming his name.

Naruto startles awake and hollers out and then sharply turns to the laughing Sasuke laying on top of him. He breathes a sigh of relief and then suddenly flips Sasuke on his back and straddles him, holding his arms above his head.

"You think that's funny, teme?" Naruto growls but it doesn't have the effect he wants because he is smiling.

"Yes, in fact I do, dobe." Sasuke says smirking.

"You boys cut it out and come eat." Kushina disciplines.

The boys stare at each other for another 10 seconds, challenging each other before Naruto shrugs and gets off and heads for the table. Sasuke soon following.

"The parade starts soon and it's gonna last all day." Kushina says excitedly as she sets all the food out.

"Really? All day?" Sasuke says pouring syrup all over his waffles.

"Yes, but I also wanna go shopping and then go to the parade and tonight they are have a light show."

"That's awesome! It's okay if Naruto and I go look at those Christmas lights tonight, right?"

Kushina nods, "Just keep your cell phones on and text me every now and then."

Sasuke nods and begins to eat.

* * *

By the time everyone heads out, it's past three in the afternoon, Kushina and Minato go their own way and so does Naruto and Sasuke.

"Where do you wanna go first?" Sasuke asks as he looks around.

Naruto shrugs while also looking around, "Uh, we can look around the shops first and then spend some time at the parade and then head to the park with all the Christmas lights. Sound good?"

Sasuke nods and the boys take off too the shops.

They look around the book stores, antique shops, and music stores before heading to the sight where the parade is, they spend a few hours there, enjoying the music and dancing, waiting for it to get dark so they can go to their final destination and hang out amoungst the Christmas lights.

"Yes! We can finally go see the lights! I've been waiting forever!" Sasuke says excitedly, looking back and forth between Naruto and what's in front of him.

Naruto gives a small smile towards Sasuke but he is feeling a little down because he is missing Kirie.

When they finally make it, it's better than they thought; the whole park is lit up with all kinds of lights, there are little houses with lights and a huge Christmas tree and a little walk way with lights touching one side of the ground, going over them, and touching the other side of the ground.

The boys eyes lit up when they see the whole scene in front of them, they both walk around to get a good look at the wonderful lights laid out before them.

"This is so pretty, isn't it Naruto?" Sasuke looks over to Naruto who is looking at his phone.

Naruto is sending Kirie, who hasn't replied since they got here, a message.

"Naruto?"

Naruto looks up and over to Sasuke, "Huh?"

Sasuke wears a curious expression, "I said 'it's pretty, ain't it?'"

Naruto nods, "Yeah yeah, it is." He says as he looks back at his phone, annoyance setting in.

"Naruto."

Naruto looks up to Sasuke again, "Hm?"

"Ain't ya gonna look at the lights? What are you even doing?" Sasuke says annoyed.

"Ah, nothing." He says, putting away his phone.

Sasuke sends a glare towards Naruto.

"Ne, Sasuke. Wanna go stand under the Christmas lights?" He says giving Sasuke a big smile.

Sasuke stays silent.

"Come on, Sasu." He grabs Sasuke and begins to drag him to the lights.

Naruto drags Sasuke all the way there and when they get there, he lets go off Sasuke's arm and starts to look around at the lights.

Sasuke sighs and looks around, a small smile creeping up on his face. He looks towards Naruto and his heart leaps, his oxygen disappears from his lungs before he takes a huge breath, and his love and happiness bursts through his chest and he can't help himself, he just starts laughing.

Naruto looks over curiously at the laughing Sasuke, "What's so funny?"

Sasuke looks up at Naruto, "It's nothing, dobe."

Naruto smiles, "Come on teme. You can't laugh that hard and it be about nothing. Tell me." He runs over to Sasuke at begins to push at his arm.

"It's really nothing."

Naruto pouts, "Don't leave me hanging man, tell me."

Sasuke pushes back at Naruto lightly, "It's nothing. I'm just happy is all."

Naruto tilts his head, confused, "I don't understand."

"That ain't unusual."

Naruto gasps and then hits Sasuke in the arm, "That's mean!"

Sasuke begins to laugh again and soon Naruto joins in.

Both of them are starting to settle down when they hear a voice.

"Naruto."

The boys looks up and see Kirie standing there at the entrance to the small walk way. Sasuke sucks in a deep breath and Naruto smiles bigger than ever as he runs over to Kirie and greets her.

"Kirie! What are you doing here?" Naruto says with a big smile on his face.

Kirie smiles, "I wasn't going to come cause of family but then I got a chance and drove here and I wanted it to be a surprise."

Naruto smiles and laughs, "I'm so happy you came!" He grabs her and hugs her, lifting her in the air before setting her down again.

Sasuke walks up and gives a weak smile, "Hey."

She smiles towards Sasuke, "Hi Sasuke! He keeping outta trouble?"

Sasuke nods and gives a fake laugh.

"Ne Sasuke, I'ma go show Kirie the lights and maybe the parade okay." He winks at Sasuke and then leans in to whisper in his ear, "Need a little romantic time." When he pulls back he is smiling.

Sasuke nods and gives another fake smile.

Naruto pats him on the back, "Thanks buddy."

He then proceeds to lead Kirie away, leaving a breaking Sasuke alone.

After a few minutes of Sasuke just standing there, staring at the spot Naruto was just standing in, he looks around and sees them laughing, holding hands and looking at the lights, tears slip down Sasuke's face before he realizes, he violently wipes them away. Sasuke then grabs his MP3 out of his pocket, as well as his head phones to listen to music, hoping to cheer up.

Once turned on, he flips through his music before settling on a song and as it begins to flow through his ears, he begins cry.

" _Stone cold_

 _Stone cold_

 _You see me standing_

 _But I'm dyin' on the floor_

 _Stone cold_

 _Stone cold_

 _Maybe if I don't cry_

 _I won't feel anymore_ "

Sasuke feels hot tears falling down his face and neck, making him shiver from the contrast of the cold outdoors, he holds his MP3 against his aching heart as he cries.

" _Stone cold_

 _Baby_

 _God knows I try to feel_

 _Happy for you_

 _Know that I am_

 _Even if I can't understand_

 _I'll take the pain_

 _Give me the truth_

 _Me and my heart_

 _We'll make it through_

 _If happy is her_

 _I'm happy for you_ "

Sasuke feels his heart shattering as he watches them with blurry eyes. He blinks away the tears and when he is able to focus, he can see them kissing next to the Christmas tree.

His hearts explodes, his feelings erupt from inside him, his earlier happiness has dissipated in thin air, he turns away and walks through the lights as the music further shatters him.

" _Stone cold_

 _Stone cold_

 _You're dancing with her_

 _While I'm staring at my phone_

 _Stone cold_

 _Stone cold_

 _I was your amber, but now_

 _She's your shade of gold_ "

As Sasuke walks and the cold wind hits his face, his tears slowly stop, he feels like that maybe his well is all dried up, he sees the beautiful lights passing by him but he feels nothing for them, and he wishes he felt nothing at all right now about Naruto.

He makes it past the lights as he heads back to where he last saw Kushina and Minato as the final lyrics to the song play through.

" _Don't wanna be stone cold_

 _Stone_

 _I wish I could mend this_

 _But here's my good-bye_

 _Oh, I'm happy for you_

 _Know that I am_

 _Even if I can't understand_

 _If happy is her_

 _If happy is her_

 _I'm happy for you_ "

Sasuke just lets the music play through as he walks, not caring what songs play next.

" _We live and we die_

 _Like fireworks_

 _Our legacies hide_

 _In the embers_

 _May our stories catch fire_

 _And burn bright enough_

 _To catch God's eye_ "

All of a sudden Sasuke sees fireworks exploding in the sky, and he feels nothing but sadness because he was suppose to see this with Naruto, they were suppose to be together and enjoy another year together, they were suppose to be standing next to each other, laughing and cracking jokes as they watched the light show.

" _We live and we die_ "

But no, Kirie showed up and took Naruto away from him once again. Sasuke wants to be happy for him and Kirie but how can he when he loves him with his entire being? How can he be happy that the love of his life is with someone else?

" _Like fireworks_

 _We pull apart the dark_

 _Compete against the stars_

 _With all of our hearts_

 _Till our temporary brilliance turns to ash_

 _We pull apart the darkness while we can_ "

Sasuke sees Kushina and Minato watching the fireworks, he doesn't even know what he wanted from them now, he doesn't want them to see him like this so Sasuke turns around and sees a bench and he sits down and decides to wait for everything to end.

" _May we live and die_

 _A valorous life_

 _May we write it all down_

 _In cursive light_

 _So we pray we were made_

 _In the image of a figure eight_ "

Sasuke looks up towards the sky and watches the fireworks explode and he can see people cheering and laughing but he hears nothing but the music playing in his ears.

" _May we live and die_ "

Some people walk past him but he pays them no mind until someone is standing in front of him, blocking his view from the fireworks.

Sasuke pauses his music and takes out his headphones.

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke looks closely in the dark at the face above him, "Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru smiles, "Yeah. I didn't expect to see you here."

"Ah, yeah. I came with Naruto and his family to see the parade."

Shikamaru sits down next to Sasuke, "I came with my family to see it too. What are you doing just sitting here on the bench? Where is Naruto?"

Sasuke tries holding in his tears but can't, tears fall down his face and he begins to feel the pain all over again.

Shikamaru's eyes go wide, "Uh Sasuke?"

Shikamaru gives him a worried look.

Sasuke looks at Shikamaru, "I'm sorry."

Shikamaru lays his hand on his back, "What's wrong?"

Sasuke begins to tell Shikamaru everything, he tells him about his family and Naruto and how he fell in love with his best friend and about how his best friend and love of his life was taken away by a nice girl and about how he was ditched tonight, about how his happiness was snatched right out of his heart.

Shikamaru listens without interrupting, his hand never leaving Sasuke's back as he confesses.

Sasuke finishes his story and somewhere during, he quit crying and he looks over nervously at Shikamaru, "Sorry, I just..."

"Don't apologize." Shikamaru cuts him off.

Sasuke looks down.

"You are hurting and need to vent. Holding this in will only hurt you more. Also, don't worry, I ain't gonna tell no body, but...why don't you stay with me and ride home with me, then you don't have to be around Naruto or Kirie."

Sasuke looks at Shikamaru, surprised before he starts crying again, "Really? I can?" He wipes tears from his eyes.

Shikamaru smiles and nods, "Yeah, of course."

Sasuke smiles through his tears, "Thank you!"

"Now, come on and lets go enjoy the rest of the parade."

Sasuke nods and both boys get up and walk towards the crowd of people and when they make it to Kushina and Minato, he explains that Kirie showed up and that Sasuke was gonna stay with Shikamaru, Kushina smiles and nods and tells Sasuke to get his stuff after the parade, Sasuke nods and then the two boys head over to Shikamaru's parents and enjoy the parade together.

* * *

When the parade was over for the night, Shikamaru's parents went ahead to their motel and Shikamaru waits with Sasuke, Kushina and Minato as they wait for Naruto.

Naruto shows up a few minutes later with Kirie attached to his side, "Shikamaru! You are here too?" He says excitedly.

Shikamaru smiles and nods.

"I'm staying with Shikamaru tonight and I'ma be riding back home with him too."

Naruto looks at Sasuke, "Oh really? Why?"

Sasuke shrugs, "We hung out today and I had a great time so he invited me."

Naruto smiles and nods, "Okay, then mum, can Kirie stay with us? She don't have no where to stay tonight."

Kushina looks like she is about to say no when Minato speaks, "Yeah, that's fine. Kushina, you and Kirie can sleep together and I'll sleep with Naruto."

Kushina just huffs and nods.

"Okay, well you can come get your things Sasuke." Minato smiles.

Sasuke nods and they head for the motels.

Kushina and Minato are in front talking, then it's Naruto and Kirie holding hands and being mushy, and then Sasuke and Shikamaru, Sasuke glaring and Shikamaru giving Sasuke a sympathetic look the whole way to the motels.

Sasuke gets his one suitcase and says goodbye to everyone and him and Shikamaru head out and to the motel up the street a ways.

"Thanks again, Shikamaru."

"No problem, man."

"I wish my feelings would just go away." Sasuke hangs his head.

"Well, that might help but you can learn a lot from experiences like this, man. You hurt now, but as time goes by, you'll heal."

Sasuke looks at Shikamaru and gives a small smile, "Yeah, you're right. Thanks."

The boys make it to the motel and go inside and get ready for bed.

"Let's have a great time for the rest of the parade, ne?" Shikamaru whispers to Sasuke laying next to him.

Sasuke turns and looks at Shikamaru in the dark, "Yeah, let's. And thanks." He smiles, showing all of his teeth.

Shikamaru looks over to Sasuke and gives him a smile just as big.

* * *

I know! How sad right? Poor Sasuke...but at least Shikamaru was there. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it and please leave reviews, all of y'alls words mean a lot to me! I will also try to update the next chapter very soon. Thank you to everyone who reads!


	7. Symbolism In My Mind

Hello everyone! This isn't like a regular chapter today but I will update one of them soon but I do hope you all enjoy this one as well! Sasuke is having a very vivid dream, full of nothing but symbolism. I hope to hear what you guys think! Lemme know! And thank you to everyone who reads!

* * *

When Sasuke opens his eyes, all he sees is white, and with a quick look to the right and left, still, all he sees is pure white. He can't even make out where the floor ends and the walls begin.

He raises up into a sitting position and he feels something tickle his neck, he looks down and sees a piece of cloth hanging there, it's clear, he runs his hand up the fabric to find the other end, but he comes up and over his eyes like a blind-fold.

Sasuke gasps and tries taking it off but it doesn't budge, why does he have a see through blind-fold on? And who put it on him?

Sasuke stands and looks down at his attire, he is wearing his favorite brown hoodie and his baggy blue jeans and converse, when did he put these on? He remembers wearing his pajamas last, he thinks.

He shrugs and decides to go look for someone else, maybe he can figure out something, his minds feels fuzzy, like he can't remember much of anything.

He sighs and rubs his face and feels something hard rub against him, he pulls his hand back quickly and pulls the sleeve of his hoodie up his arm, he sees a handcuff. He then pulls up the other sleeve and see another one but they are not connected, they are broken from each other and as he takes a closer look, he sees that his arms have hundreds of scars, Sasuke gasps from the surprise, he looks at both arms and then his torso and then every other part of skin he can see; there are scars everywhere.

He can feel tears approaching quickly, he is pretty freaked out but he decides to keep moving and hopefully figure out this mess, so he pushes down the tears and continues to walk in the direction he thinks is forward.

* * *

After what feels like an eternity to Sasuke, he finally sees another person in the distance and as he continues to walk forward, what starts to come into view, is bright blond hair and a bright orange hoodie.

Sasuke's eyes widen in realization, his breath hitches and he lets out the biggest, brightest and most loving smile to ever grace someone's face, and then he runs.

Sasuke takes off quicker than lightning as he tries to quickly reach the person his loves so dearly.

The closer he gets, the more he sees Naruto and the quicker he makes his body run, but before getting to him he runs smack into something.

Sasuke falls to the ground holding his throbbing face, while he also tries to take in more oxygen to his stinging lungs but he forces his watery eyes to look up anyway to see what on earth he bumped into, but, he sees nothing, nothing but the bright-haired boy a few feet away.

So he stands and he cautiously sticks his arm out in front of him and his arm barely makes it a few inches before in comes in contact with something. Sasuke puts his other hand on the thing stopping him from getting closer to Naruto and as he runs his hands up and down, left and right, he realizes that it is an invisible wall.

He chokes in a breath with the realization at not being able to make it to Naruto, but Sasuke doesn't wanna give up, so he looks at Naruto and begins banging loudly on the wall as he hollers but Naruto doesn't pay no mind, so Sasuke just starts watching him, hoping he'll look over his way but he just sees Naruto stomping in a bed of flowers and he notices that the only flower he is stomping on is the blue tulips. Sasuke just watches without any understanding but for some reason, he feels pain at watching Naruto stomp on these beautiful flowers so he starts banging again and asking Naruto to stop.

All of a sudden, Sasuke sees a girl with no face walking up to Naruto, the banging immediately quits as Sasuke stands frozen with fear from the unusual girl, but Naruto smiles at her like nothing is wrong and he wraps his arms around her and she too, wraps her arms around him and then they begin talking. Sasuke sees Naruto talking, even though he can hear no sound, and the girl's body language makes it look as if she is talking but yet, she has no face, no mouth.

Before Sasuke realizes what's happening, he feels water fall down his cheeks, he reaches up and touches his cheek and realizes, they are his tears.

When he looks up again, Naruto has his arm around her shoulders and they walk off in the opposite direction of Sasuke. He begins to bang on the wall again, knowing that they probably can't hear him, but he doesn't stop until he can no longer see them, until he barely has a voice, and that's when the banging dies and that's when the flood is released.

Through Sasuke's chocked sobs, he opens his red, puffy eyes, hoping to see Naruto again but instead of Naruto, he is graced with a disturbing view, his own left hand is gone. He sees the skin particles flying off, left and right and disappearing into the white background.

Sasuke falls backwards onto the ground screaming, begging for help, letting out desperate sobs for Naruto as his body slowly breaks down and fades away.

As Sasuke cries, his tears too, disappear into thin air as if they never existed.

But he doesn't stop crying, he just sits against the wall, his head between his knees as the disappearing tears continues to flow. Sasuke just cries and waits, waiting for his whole body, his whole being to quietly fade away, and he thinks, as he fades away, Naruto is gone, off with someone else, not even thinking of Sasuke.

* * *

Sasuke eventually stops crying and is just waiting, waiting for the death that is coming because he no longer cares, he just wants to give up and so that's what he did, he broke down and gave up. He sits alone in this quiet, white room, thinking about someone who is not thinking about him, worrying about someone who is not worried about him, waiting for someone who is not coming, loving someone who doesn't love him back.

And as he sits there, his body see through, his soul on the verging of dying, he feels something so very warm on his shoulder and he looks up to see where such warmth came from, and he sees a bright, bright smile coming from Shikamaru.

Shikamaru holds his hand to Sasuke, "Come."

Sasuke looks down, as his bites on his bottom lip, "I can't...I have no arms."

Shikamaru smiles even more and leans down, grabbing Sasuke's hands, "Look."

Sasuke looks at his hands and then rubs up and down his no longer see through body and smiles as happy tears start flowing, and then he looks at Shikamaru and smiles and he grabs his hand.

* * *

So...What do you guys think? I hope you enjoyed but I wanted something a little different from the usual but the next chapter will be when he wakes from this dream. So I'll try to update soon! Thank you for reading! And I read everyone's reviews and I appreciate them beyond belief! When I don't feel confident about my story or my writing, all of y'all's reviews really bring me up, so thank you! I love hearing everyone's opinion on my story! I love the critics and the positive reviews!


	8. Warrior

Hey guys! Okay, I know it's been a long time, and for that I apologize! This chapter isn't very long but I hope you enjoy it. I was reading the comments and someone was happy for the songs I put into my story so I will list the songs I listened to to write this and what was used today. ^^ So first is the song actually used in the story and that is Devendra Bandhart - At The Hop, I really love this song! Next is some songs I listened to while writing. So that is Demi Lovato - Games and her other song Smoke and Mirrors. Now, I started writing this and then over half way through I got distracted by YouTube and I watched Demi Lovato's Documentary and it inspired the later half of this story, some of you may be able to tell. Or not. But I recommend the documentary cause it was really good. But anyway, this story may seemed rushed and I have no explanation but things are gonna start getting better and more interesting from now on (I hope). I have big plans for the other chapters. So enjoy reading and I'm very thankful for all who read and those who also comment. Your reviews are very much welcomed; good or bad or advising for my writing, I love reading them all! Thank you!

* * *

The Christmas trip went by without too many incidents, Sasuke hung out with Shikamaru the whole time but he would occasionally see Naruto and Kirie, even sometimes walk past them and Naruto barely acknowledged them, causing Sasuke to feel depressed again and Shikamaru to help pick up the pieces. But, other than those moments, Sasuke had a pretty good time with Shikamaru and his family and then before he knew it, the trip came to an end and Sasuke rode home with Shikamaru.

That was over two weeks ago, and Sasuke and Naruto keep drifting apart with ever second that passes. Naruto is just as happy, Kirei seems to be all he needs, while Sasuke watches from afar, feeling like he just keeps falling into the darkest of pits.

Sasuke had continued to try to hang out with Naruto, to keep his attention on him, but nothing seemed to work anymore, causing Sasuke to wonder if they are drifting away to a point where they won't be able reconcile anymore, but Sasuke doesn't want to give up so easily.

"Hey Naruto!" Sasuke runs up to Naruto with a bright but slightly sad smile.

Naruto turns and gives a smile in return, "Hey Sasuke."

"Tonight is our movie night and it's your turn to pick the movie." Sasuke catches his breath, never losing his hopeful smile.

Naruto's eyes grow wide, "Oh right! I totally forgot!"

Sasuke's smile drops a little.

"Hmm, let's watch..." Naruto looks up, his hand resting on his chin as he searches his mind for a movie suggestion.

Sasuke's smile returns but just a little brighter than before with realization that Naruto is coming over.

Naruto smiles with an idea, " Okay, let's start the New Years off with a bang, let's watch Pretty In Pink!"

Sasuke lets out a loud laugh with his answer, "Okay, whatever you want, dobe."

Sasuke smiles warmly, his expression filled with love.

Naruto smiles back, "Teme."

"Okay, I'll see you at...?" Sasuke looks at Naruto for the answer.

"Hmm...how about...around 5?" Naruto looks at Sasuke questionally.

Sasuke nods, "Sounds good! I'll see you then!"

They smile towards each other before separating and going to their classes.

* * *

After school Sasuke rushes home with a smile still stuck onto his face, and starts preparing for the sleepover tonight, he gets out snacks and gets their little setup ready, blankets and pillows all in a nice pile on the floor where the boys will sit and watch movies.

After he finishes working, he looks towards the clock, excited as it read four forty-two.

Sasuke's phone then rings.

He walks over to it and sees Naruto's name, excited, he answers quickly.

"Hey Naruto! I got ever-"

"Sorry Sasuke!" Naruto interrupts, "I won't be able to make it to movie night tonight. Kirie is over and is wanting to have dinner with me and my parents, so it'll have to wait to next time. I'll make it up to you, I promise! Got to go. Bye!"

The phone then goes silent.

Sasuke stares without removing the phone from against his ear, a tear escapes his eyes before he roughly rubs his face with the back of his sweater-clad arm.

He throws the phone onto his bed, and he just stares at his setup, sad and angry but no more tears break loose, he doesn't wanna cry anymore.

Instead, he sighs and lies on his bed, staring at the ceiling. What does he do now?

Sasuke turns his head and spots his MP3, he shrugs and leans over to grab it, popping his headphones in and he begins his search for a song, he sees Devendra Banhart's At the Hop and clicks it, instantly closing his eyes as he lets the music flow, hoping this will brighten his day a little.

 _"Put me in your suitcase_

 _Let me help you pack_

 _'Cause you're never coming back_

 _No, you're never coming back"_

Sasuke takes in a deep breath and then sighs.

 _"Cook me in your breakfast_

 _And put me on your plate_

 _'Cause you know I taste great_

 _Yeah, you know I taste great"_

Sasuke smiles with amusement at the lyrics.

 _"At the hop, it's greaseball heaven_

 _With candy pants and Archie too_

 _Put me in your dry dream_

 _Or put me in your wet_

 _If you haven't yet_

 _No, if you haven't yet"_

Sasuke begins to move his foot and his head, bobbing them to the beat, even though the lyrics are a little sad.

 _"Light me with your candle_

 _And watch the flames grow high_

 _No, it doesn't hurt to try_

 _It doesn't hurt to try"_

Sasuke nods, agreeing with the lyrics.

 _"Well, I won't stop all of my pretending_

 _That you'll come home_

 _You'll be coming home someday soon"_

Sasuke starts dancing his pointer fingers around in circles.

 _"Put me in your blue skies_

 _Or put me in your grey_

 _There's gotta be some way_

 _There's gotta be some way"_

Sasuke's whole body begins to move with the music.

 _"Put me in your tongue tie_

 _Make it hard to say_

 _That you ain't gonna stay_

 _That you ain't gonna stay"_

Sasuke lets out a deep sad sigh.

 _Wrap me in your marrow_

 _Stuff me in your bones_

 _Sing a mending moan_

 _A song to bring you home"_

He opens his eyes, hoping that maybe Naruto will come back to him, back home. When the song finished, Sasuke put it on replay, listening to the song over and over again, until an hour goes by without notice.

Sasuke then gets an idea as he removes his headphones and grabs his phone, dialing up a number and putting the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" A voice answers on the other line.

"Hey Shikamaru, wanna come stay at my house tonight?" Sasuke waits, not wanting to get his hopes up again.

"Yeah, sure. Be over in ten." The phone clicks off.

Sasuke laughs but then feels guilt in the pit of his stomach, he should've chosen Shikamaru from the beginning, the one person who has been there for him through most of this Naruto stuff, he debates whether he should even tell him about this, he doesn't wanna make him feel like he is just the second pick.

And as Shikamaru said, he was over in ten minutes, Sasuke opens the door with a smile and welcomes him in his home, guiding him upstairs to his room.

Shikamaru laughs upon seeing Sasuke's sleepover-prepared room.

"Really Sasuke?" Shikamaru asks, his voice playful.

Sasuke pouts, "What? I like making my room all comfy for a sleepover."

Shikamaru pats his shoulder and then throws his hands up as if he is being arrested, "No judgments here, buddy."

He walks forward and sets his things down next to the TV and then crashes onto the little setup in the floor and stretches out.

"This is actually quite comfy." Shikamaru looks at Sasuke and gives a small smile.

"Of course it is! I made it!" Sasuke laughs and sits down next to Shikamaru.

"What's the plan?" Shikamaru asks curiously.

"Well, we can watch a movie or anything really."

"Hmm...why don't you tell me about you and Naruto?" Shikamaru gives a knowing look towards Sasuke.

Sasuke blushes and looks down in shame.

Shikamaru reaches out and rubs his head for reassurance.

"Well, he has been ignoring me lately, basically. And.." Sasuke continues to look down, twiddling his thumbs.

"You don't have to talk if you don't wanna but it could help and I'll help you anytime."

When Sasuke gave a glance upwards, he saw Shikamaru smiling brightly at him, and Sasuke realized that Shikamaru was a very caring person, underneath his intimidating knowledge and hard-to-approach personality.

Sasuke smiles, feeling safe and happy with Shikamaru, he knows they will become very good friends, so for once, since this whole losing Naruto thing happened, he is truly grateful. Grateful that he has a friend, and a brother to help him through, he knows he will get through this, even though it hurts, even though it can be agonizing, even though it may take a while for the pain to end, if it ever does, but he knows he will make it, he will survive it.

Sasuke is determined to become the person he wants to be, someone not desperate for a love, but someone who accepts himself and his situation, someone who can survive anything, someone strong, he wants to become a warrior.

He knows it might take a while to become that person but it starts now; it starts by welcoming in more people, and to quit crying and quit being sad, this is partly his fault too after all, by not confessing, so he needs to take responsibility. He will tell Naruto, because what can he lose? Naruto is willing to push him away for a girl anyway so he can't lose a friendship if it's lost already. Sasuke will tell him Graduation Day.

With new found confidence, he answered Shikamaru, his eyes changed.

Shikamaru notices the difference in Sasuke and smiles.

"I plan on telling Naruto on Graduation Day, that I love him." Sasuke smiles and blushes.

Shikamaru nods, "I'll stand by your side, whichever way it turns."

Sasuke's eyes water but he pushes the tears back, "Thanks, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru rubs his head once again, "No problem."

Sasuke smiles with his whole face.

And so does Shikamaru.

* * *

The months continue to pass, Sasuke spending more time with Shikamaru and less time with Naruto. Sasuke continues on the path he wants, but he sometimes can't help the lingering of his eyes on Naruto, his chest would feel with immense love and sadness and yet, hope.

Shikamaru has become an important person in Sasuke's life, at first Itachi was worried because he no longer saw Naruto around and Sasuke couldn't explain too much to him so he told him that Naruto chose Kirie and Itachi understood and had no trouble accepting Shikamaru. Sasuke was grateful to him for that.

Over the passing months, as Graduation Day gradually got closer and closer; Naruto and Sasuke hung out less and less, barely even speaking much anymore. Sometimes when Kirie wasn't around, he'd talk to Sasuke or hang out with him and Shikamaru for the time being before running off to be with Kirie once again, leaving Sasuke feeling broken all over again.

This ended up causing Shikamaru to resent Naruto a little bit.

But Sasuke was trying to not cry, trying to not let him continue to hurt him again and again.

Sasuke got to a point where Naruto wouldn't cross his mind too often anymore, when he used to think of him every day, all day. Now, he is slowly but surely getting him off his mind and with each day, he becomes a little more happy.

And then Graduation Day comes.

* * *

So...? Did you like it? Even a little? I hope! This chapter didn't have much going on but I hope you liked it anyway. Please leave a review too! I love them! So, I suppose I'll see y'all in the next chapter! Have a bless day! ^^


	9. Hoping For The Future

Hey guys! I know this chapter is kinda late but here is some more! I wanted to write a chapter that gave a little more insight to Sasuke's mind about confessing to Naruto before jumping right into the actual act. Sooooooo I hope y'all enjoy, I'll write the next chapter soon and we'll get to the juicier confessing parts ;) Okay, song time! The songs I listened to when writing was Bloom by Paper Kites, So Sad, So Sad by VARSITY, Sorry by Halsey, and Where's My Love (Acoustic) by SYML. I hope y'all enjoying reading! ^^

* * *

Sasuke opens his eyes but just barely at the blaring sunlight shining through his windows into his room from where he forgot to shut the curtains, his body just a little uncomfortable from the heat under his blankets, he takes a deep breath, sighing as his kicks out one of his legs into the cooler room.

He yawns before looking towards the clock, it reads 8:14 am.

Today is Graduation Day, and it begins at ten this morning.

So Sasuke has a little bit of time to chill around the house.

Today is not only Graduation Day, it's also the day where Sasuke tells Naruto he loves him. Sasuke can feel butterflies and nervousness crawling its way into his stomach, he feels worry and dread but also excitement, which he curses.

Why did he have to like him to begin with, what's really so great about love or relationships?

You can't even function right, they'll be stuck in your head all day; you'll sit and imagine all the different things you can do with each other; camping, telling jokes, sharing secrets, deep conversations, a shared love in general for each other's company. You can never get anything done, you get butterflies just hearing their name or if your phone goes off with a message from them. And, the sadness and jealously you feel when they talk or look and think about someone else, it can be unbearable and overall; crazy.

Who says falling in love or liking someone is great?

Maybe it can be, if you both like each other because you'll share that love and connection, and everything can end up being and feeling so much more alive and amazing.

But what if that person, never loves you back; then you sit and cry, and wallow, and hurt.

So is it even worth it?

Sasuke huffs, even though he is trying not to think of Naruto, sometimes he really can't help it, especially when he is alone, his mind tends to drift back to the person he loves because his heart can't help it, because he is in love.

How will Naruto even react? Sasuke feels a pain in his heart as he thinks about what reaction he'll come face to face with.

Because even though he kinda lost his friend, this right here just may cut the final string all together, it might make it permanent and telling him won't bring him back but Sasuke doesn't wanna go throughout his life knowing he was too scared to admit his feelings for someone, liking someone is not a reason to be embarrased or scared, it's natural and it's a compliment in Sasuke's opinion.

But bringing him back is not the point in telling him, the real point is to let go. Naruto is gone, but Sasuke hasn't managed to let go of him, so he'll tell him his feelings, get everything out in the open, so he can move on and stop loving him.

To abandon hope.

If he doesn't tell him, he'll never really know what Naruto thinks and feels about it, and then afterwards, he can move forward having hope for the new future.

He wants to give up hope, if he can.

Love is powerful and once it sets its hooks in you, pulling them out can be demanding and agonizing, but it needs to be done sometimes, just so you don't go crazy.

Sasuke's goal is to finally live free, without the weight of unrequited love.

Hope can be dangerous.

Hope can be agonizing.

Hope can be tedious.

Hope is powerful.

But, at the same time, hope can save your life.

When is the right time to have hope? When is the right time to give up hope?

Making that distinction is really the biggest question, and it's a hard question to answer.

But sometimes you just know.

That's why today, Sasuke will tell Naruto and then he'll move on, even if he has to swim through his own tears, as Alice in Wonderland had to do but she made it through that locked door.

Sasuke gets up, basically dragging himself to the shower, wanting to look as decent as a broken-hearted man can for his Graduation.

He stares in the mirror, wondering when he'll finally grow up and become the man he wants to be.

He rubs his face tiredly before turning to the shower.

He pulls off his pajamas and hops in for a hot shower, hoping to calm at least some of his nerves and tense muscles.

He stands there for a few moments, letting the water wash away all his worry, his doubt, his life, he allows his mind to go blank as he listens to the water, feeling it rush over his body before he has to come back to reality.

Will this possibly be the last time he sees Naruto? Will they stop being friends for good and go their separate ways to college? Is this what will happen?

Sasuke shakes his head, cursing his brain for continuing to think about him.

He sighs, annoyed at himself now as he begins washing up with a scowl on his face.

After his shower he steps out and walks back to his room in the nude before pulling on a red t-shirt and some loose dark blue jeans, he then walks down to the kitchen for a light breakfast, grabbing an apple.

He leans against the counter, taking big bites out of the red, juicy apple.

He kinda feels a little relieved, knowing he is confessing and also graduating and ridding himself of such burdens and emotions.

Sasuke feels like today will be okay, even if he loses Naruto forever, it will still all be okay.

He throws the core away and goes back up to his room, grabbing his keys, mp3, headphones, phone, and shoes before waking out the door, heading to his school.

It'll take some time to get there, and his nerves are still a little haywire so Sasuke decides to play some music.

He digs in his pocket for his mp3 and his headphones.

Putting in his headphones, he begins searching for a song.

He picks Bloom by The Paper Kites.

The soft guitars begin to course through his ears before the gentle words come swooping in.

 _"In the morning when I wake_

 _And the sun is coming through,_

 _Oh, you fill my lungs with sweetness,_

 _And you fill my head with you."_

Sasuke moves his head to the beat as he walks in the direction of the school.

 _"Shall I write it in a letter?_

 _Shall I try to get it down?_

 _Oh, you fill my head with pieces_

 _Of a song I can't get out."_

He takes a deep breath.

 _"Can I be close to you?_

 _Ooh-oo-oo-ooh, ooh._

 _Can I be close to you?_

 _Ooh, ooh."_

Sasuke stuffs his hands in this pockets, looking around his neighborhood, the one he won't see for a while when he starts college, he smiles sadly, missing it already but excited for new adventures.

 _"Can I take it to a morning_

 _Where the fields are painted gold_

 _And the trees are filled with memories_

 _Of the feelings never told?"_

Sasuke laughs, today his feeling will be known, he wants that so much.

 _"When the evening pulls the sun down,_

 _And the day is almost through,_

 _Oh, the whole world it is sleeping,_

 _But my world is you._

Sasuke takes big steps, jumpy lazily down the sidewalk, his hands still stuffed into his pockets.

 _"Can I be close to you?_

 _(Ah) ooh (aah), ooh (aah)._

 _Can I be close to you?_

 _(Ah) ooh (aah), ooh (aah)."_

Sasuke thinks of Naruto's beautiful face, a twinge of pain and love shoot through his heart. Will today really be okay? Sasuke wants nothing more than to believe that, but he can't help but wonder too if he might regret today forever.

What will happen to him, to Naruto, when they both go to college? What is Naruto going to do with Kirie? What does the future hold for the both of them? Will everything just be all spick-and-span?

Today may be a great(ish) day or a terrible day, no in between.

Sasuke sighs, wanting the day to just hurry up and be over.

 _"Can I be close to you?_

 _(Ah) ooh (aah), ooh (aah)._

 _Can I be close to you?_

 _(Ah) ooh (aah), ooh (aah)."_

The song is coming close to its end, just like how Sasuke wants the day to go.

Will Naruto and Sasuke ever be close again? Be friends? Or, even more than friends?

Sasuke is worried about the future, not just for himself but also for his big brother as well as for Naruto.

He thinks about Naruto again, a small smile sneaks up onto his face, they've been best friends for years, they've experienced _so_ much together, and they've loved and hated and fought and hugged and it's just all coming to an end.

It's not even about lovers anymore, but friendship, Sasuke isn't just losing his first and only love, but his best friend, the one who stuck by him and helped him, the one who is supposed to always stick by and help you.

But today, he just may lose his best friend.

He just may lose Naruto.

The final lyrics play out and Sasuke asks the same question.

 _"Can I be close to you?_ (Can I be close to you?)

 _Ooh, ooh."_

* * *

I hope y'all liked it! Please review and tell me what you think! Good or bad! I know it's kinda short but I hope you can enjoy anyway! More will be coming soon! Thanks to everyone who reads and to those who also review! ^^


	10. All I've Ever Needed

Hey guys! I wrote this little thing today for Valentine's Day! It's not very long but I hope y'all enjoy! The song I listened to while writing was "All I've Ever Needed" by Nikki Reed and Paul McDonald. Also, HAPPY VALENTINE"S DAY!

* * *

 _February 14th, Valentines Day, months before Kirie_

* * *

Sasuke was in the middle of eating breakfast when he suddenly heard a loud knock on the door, he looks up, cereal and spoon still in his mouth. He takes out the spoon, chewing his cereal as he walks nonchalantly to the door, swinging it open wide, finding a bouquet of flowers being pushed into his face.

Sasuke swallows his cereal, "What the heck?"

"Hey Sasuke!"

Sasuke looks around the flowers to find a very amused blonde smiling at him, Sasuke narrows his eyes.

"What is this for, dobe?" He takes the flowers being handed to him.

"It's Valentine's Day." Naruto says with a shrug as he walks past Sasuke without a second look, going into his house.

"Idiot." Sasuke replies without any malice, "I don't get you."

Sasuke smiles the tiniest but happiest smile before turning to go back into the house.

* * *

"I have the perfect plan for us to do!" Naruto exclaims on Sasuke's bed.

"Oh yeah? What could that be?" Sasuke raises his eyebrows.

Naruto snickers, then holds out the box he brought over without any words.

Sasuke gives him a funny look before hesitantly taking the medium sized box and opening it.

Sasuke looks at the contents with confusion before realization struck him.

He looks up to Naruto who still has a mischievous smile plastered on his face.

"Seriously? We haven't done this in forever."

"Yep, so that's why we are doing this now."

"Guess I can't really say no. " Sasuke says nonchalant.

"Yes!" Naruto jumps with his hands in the air.

Sasuke takes out the horror movies and candy, handing the movies to Naruto while he goes to scoot up onto his bed with the huge chocolate bars.

"We haven't spent a Valentine's Day like this since we were kids! Watching horror movies and eating candy for Valentine's Day is the best!" Naruto laughs a little too excited as he puts in the first movie, _Nightmare On Elm Street_.

He then turns out the lights and crawls into the bed, sitting next to his best friend and taking his candy bar.

Sasuke takes notice on Naruto's whole body is completely up against his left side, as he is happily gnawing on his candy as the movie starts.

Sasuke smiles, his cheeks turning pink with the body contact he is receiving.

Naruto keeps leaning against him to talk or look at him in the dark, causing Sasuke's heart to almost burst from his chest.

Sasuke wonders how he hangs around Naruto _all_ the time and yet still _does not_ get use to his presence and still the butterflies flutter around.

He sneaks a glance at Naruto, his heart skips a beat, his pupils get larger, and his breath hitches. What has he gotten himself into? Why does his heart not even belong to himself anymore?

His grip tightens on his candy bar, the chocolate smooshing slightly inwards from the body heat.

Naruto takes a quick glance towards Sasuke and gives him a warm smile, "Thanks for agreeing to this, Sasuke. Thanks for also being my best friend, you're all I'll ever need."

Sasuke blushes, his eyes wide, his oxygen taken completely out of his lungs.

Naruto smiles at him brightly and wraps his arm around his neck and shaking him some, "Thanks again, teme!"

Sasuke regains some composure and smiles, "I feel the same, dobe."

Naruto turns back to watch the movie, not removing the arm draped over Sasuke's shoulders.

Sasuke looks down at his hand, wanting so badly to tangle his own fingers into Naruto's, wanting to feel move of that warmth he always has radiating off him.

Would it be so bad if he did? Would Naruto not like it?

Sasuke's heart beats faster and faster at the thought of actually going through with his irrational idea.

He tries to calm himself but he can't take his eyes away from his hand, or from the heat burning against his side from leaning into Naruto _because_ of having his arm draped around him.

He couldn't possibly care, right? Considering he is basically _cuddling_ with him.

Can he?

Will he?

Sasuke closes his eyes, reaching his left hand to Naruto's right one, slowly sliding his fingers in between Naruto's own.

His heart is beating rapidly, drowning out the movie with the beating in his ears; his mouth like a desert, as he squeezes the fingers he is grasping.

He keeps his eyes closed, scared of what could come, what reaction Naruto could possibly have.

That's when he feels Naruto's fingers tighten in response, holding on tight, not letting go.

Sasuke's eyes pop open but he doesn't move, he then looks at his own hand tangled with Naruto's, his heart, if possible, quickens at the sight.

He then takes a chance and glances at Naruto, he has to slightly look up because he is leaning into his side.

Naruto feels the movement and looks down to Sasuke.

Sasuke tenses because of the intense look Naruto is giving him, he isn't smiling but his eyes show a tremendous amount of emotion, emotion you can't seem to put into words.

The movie plays on, almost forgotten as the two stare at each other, revealing a little more of themselves with only their eyes.

Naruto gives Sasuke a small smile and chuckles embarrassingly, his cheeks tainted pink, "Thanks for being my Valentine."

Sasuke blushes like mad, "W-what are you saying, dobe!"

Naruto blushes too, pursuing his lips, "Sorry, but it's kinda true, you know! L-lets just get back to the movie."

They both turn back to the movie, blushes darker than a tomato, staining their faces, but their bodies don't move, they stay tangled together.

* * *

Okay, the idea for this is weird, right? Horror movies on Valentine's Day?! Well, I'll tell you the inspiration behind that. Actually, when my sister and I were younger, our parents would buy us balloons, a giant chocolate candy bar, a stuffed animal and horror movies, so my sis and I would spend all day watching them and eating the candy while cuddling with our new stuffed animal. I always loved those traditions so I wanted to write about it! Anyway, I hope y'all liked this chapter, the next one won't be too far behind! Thank you for reading!


	11. Graduation

Hey guys! Were y'all excepting this chapter this quickly? No? Well I hope to all my readers that you enjoy! I just had to write it today! Now, time for the songs that I listened too to write this. Ready? Here goes. Can't Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley, Time After Time by Tuck and Patti and Punch Drunk On Black Mold by Absofacto. I hope y'all enjoy the chapter!

* * *

All I did was walk into the school and my hearts speeds up, today I tell the man I've been in love with for years, my best friend, that I love him.

I walk around the school, heading to the band room where they are keeping all the cap and gowns, that's when I see Naruto and many of my classmates in front of the band room.

Naruto is smiling and happily talking with Kirie and some other classmates, he really looks mature wearing his cap and gown, he looks so beautiful, but the scene hurts; I look way because I can't see myself there beside him anymore, but I want too.

I notice that I had stopped walking so I continue my way towards the band room.

I walk past Naruto, he gives me a quick smile and thumbs up before turning back to Kirie, the girl he is dating, but whom I can't bring myself to hate.

I can't stop the sigh that escapes past my lips.

When I walk in, I can see Shikamaru trying to zip his gown without much success, I can't help but chuckle at the funny scene, it's rare to see an irritated Shikamaru.

I walk over to him and when he sees me I see relief wash over his face.

"Oh good! Could you help me with this? I've been trying to zip this up for like ten minutes."

I chuckle and nod, he turns around and I try zipping it up but to no avail.

My eyebrows furrow and I try again.

After several attempts, I pull the zipper down and see that a tiny string is caught in the metal, I rip it off and the zipper has no trouble going all the way up.

I pat his shoulders, "There, good to go!"

Shikamaru turns back around to face me while sighing, "Thanks again, man."

I smile and I go to find my gown next, when I find it, luckily I have no problems and it slides on with ease.

"Hey Shikamaru." I call out to him as our whole class walks down the hallway to the auditorium.

Shikamaru turns towards me to show he is listening.

I drop my voice down lower so no one around me can hear me, "I'm telling Naruto after graduation."

I wanna ask him to wait on me, but I can't burden him with my love quest.

Shikamaru doesn't look surprised and he gives me a small smile.

"Okay, then I'll wait for you out front then."

I look at him surprised, "Well, uh, you don't _have_ to wait for me. I mean, you should go celebrate with your family, you know."

Shikamaru chuckles, "It's no problem, man. I mean, what are friends for anyway."

I stare at him, happiness and fondness explode in my chest, and I can't stop my smile.

"Thanks, Shikamaru."

"Oh, is your brother able to make it today?"

"Yeah, but he has to go back to work directly afterwards." I try not to sound sad, but I probably didn't pull it off too well.

"Well, you are welcome to come with me and my family." Shikamaru says while staring ahead, hands in his pockets, "Open invitation."

I look towards the floor, a sad smile spreads across my face, "Thanks."

* * *

My heart speeds up as we all lined up alphabetically, meaning I was right beside Naruto.

"This is awesome, Sasuke! We are finally graduating!" Naruto puts his arm over my shoulders, his warmth spreading over me again.

"Yeah, it's hard to believe you could ever get this far." I say jokingly.

Naruto pouts and smacks my chest, "Teme!"

"Hn."

"Well, try not to trip going up the stairs." He grins mischievously.

"Don't try nothing, dobe. I'll _push_ you down the stairs." I send a menacing glare his way as he puts his hands up in surrender.

"No worries! I've been on the receiving end of your anger before and I don't wanna go through that again." Naruto send a smirk my way.

"Hn."

I hear the music start and the doors open before the teachers usher us out into the crowded room of parents, siblings and friends; some crying, some hollering, and can't forget a couple of crying babies.

We all walk down the aisle, looking for our crowd in the audience, wanting to wave and smile, while getting blinded by flashing camera lights.

I turn and I see Itachi, smiling proudly in the middle of the room, I can't stop the smile that creeps up on my face at the sight.

After making it on stage, we were forced to stand there and listen to all the speeches and then they call out ours names to come down and get our diplomas. When I went to get mine, Itachi, Kushina and Minato, who were all sitting beside each other, (I somehow missed that) all stood up and screamed out my name. I about fell off stage, my cheeks as red as a tomato as I refused to meet their eyes.

Naruto also got the same treatment.

And that concluded the ceremony and that's also when my nerves started to crumble.

"Congrats Sasuke!" Itachi says with pride and sadness.

"Thanks." I smile, knowing what's coming next.

"I gotta go back to work, can you make it home alone?" His voice heavy with regret.

"Yeah yeah, I'm good. I'll be going out with Shikamaru and his family." I smile a brightly, not wanting Itachi to worry, he does his best for me after all.

Itachi gives a sad smile knowingly, "Okay, call me if you need me then."

I nod and wave goodbye.

Now it's time for the big mission, I look over and see Naruto, again with Kirie and I'm now struck with incredible amounts of anger rather than sadness or worry, because he ditched me, ditched his best friend for a girl.

He is one of the only people who has always been there; when my parents died, when Itachi had to get a job and go to school and I was left alone, when I just fell apart because of it all. We went through a lot, not just sadness but happiness, and love, and fear, and many many things.

We had sleep-overs and we watched horror movies and went ghost hunting, we had traditions on holidays, we told each other everything, we stuck by each other in fights.

Time after time we caught each other and held on like we couldn't live without the other.

And it's gone, he threw it away for romance, for a stranger, for her.

He threw me away for Kirie.

He threw me away and that makes me angry.

But despite that, being angry is hard when you love someone.

So when I look at his face again, my anger disperses and I sigh.

But I have a little more courage now as I take long strides over to Naruto, my hands clenched tight.

"Naruto!"

He turns smiling at me and waves, "Sasuke! Congrats!"

He snickers.

I can't help but chuckle.

"Yeah, congrats to you too."

"Congrats Sasuke!"

I smile awkwardly towards Kirie, "Thanks, congrats to you too."

"Hey dobe, can I talk to you one on one a sec?"

Naruto gives a worried look and nods his head, following me out into the empty hallway.

"Everything okay?" His asks, face contorted in worry.

I wanna laugh at his reaction but I hold back.

"Yeah, er, no, I don't know." I look towards the floor.

"What is it?" Naruto walks closer to me, putting a hand on my forearm.

I look up in response, biting my lip, my new found courage slipping from my body.

"I-I have something to tell you. A secret I've been keeping from you for years."

He looks surprised but waits for me to continue.

"Well.." I sigh.

"I don't know how to tell you this."

"Just tell me. You can tell me anything, don't worry so much."

I look up to Naruto again, his eyes are hard, but not in a bad way, more like, I really could tell him everything and all will be okay.

Some of Naruto's own courage seeps into me.

So I just spit it out.

"I'm in love with you." I say calmly, not letting my eyes leave his.

I see his eyes grow wide, he removes his hand from my arm and he takes a step back.

My stomach jolts.

I feel bile rising to my throat but I push it down, I haven't received his reply, I can't start getting upset now.

"No. You can't."

My throat clenches, I almost can't breathe.

"I do. I couldn't help falling in love with you, and I've been in love with you for years now." I surprised myself by how calm my voice sounded.

Naruto shakes his head, "We're guys, Sasuke. We're friends. I'm not gay."

He doesn't look at me.

My heart is starting to speed up, it's hard to register any other sound.

"There isn't anything wrong with that." I take a step forward, pleading.

My heart almost stops as he takes a another step back, his face contorted in pain and anger.

"Being gay is not right, it's not normal, Sasuke. Don't you know that?" He finally looks at me and I wish he hadn't because his eyes look like they belong to a stranger.

"You truly believe that?" I plead, not wanting it to be true.

Naruto looks pained, "I do. I-I think it's disgusting."

I see his hands clenched so tight, his knuckles are ghostly white.

My legs feel unstable.

My head feels like it's spinning a little.

"Then, can you not accept me?" I feel water stinging the corner of my eyes.

Naruto clenches his jaw, looking down with his eyes closed tight before sighing and looking straight at me.

"I can't."

It's official, my heart has stopped beating, I can't even feel my body anymore, can you die just like that? For no reason other than heartbreak?

If such a thing is possible, then it has just happened to me.

Right here.

Right now.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke. I don't wanna-" He stops himself.

He rubs his face, his jaw still clenched tight before continuing, " I don't wanna hurt you but I also can't accept you."

When I return from my short moment of death, I look up and see tears running down his face.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke." Naruto looks at me before taking another step back.

The tears start to also run down my cheeks.

I feel him slipping away with each word, each step.

And then..

I realize that he is never coming back to me.

"I'm sorry.. I can't.." He turns and walks away, wiping away the tears from his face, not once looking back.

When I see him disappear, I sink to the floor.

My cheeks and neck are wet from my tears, it's really over now.

He's gone, he's never ever coming back.

Naruto cut the last string, he severed the bond.

I feel utterly empty inside now.

Completely completely empty.

What will become of me now?

* * *

How was it? I hope y'all liked it! I have many more plans for this story and I hope y'all stay around for the rest! I know I don't update very well but I'll really try too. I can't tell when this story will end, I have so much in my head and written down but I do hope y'all will like it! And thank y'all for all the reviews and follows and everything, it means a great deal to me! ^^ So until next chapter!


	12. Bad Luck

Hey guys! I'm late with this, sorry about that! I've been obsessed with Persona 5 so I've been playing that a lot! Anyway, I really hope y'all enjoy this new update, I had a lot of fun writing! Now, you know what time it is! Song credit time! First is Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People, the next is Learn To Fly by Foo Fighters, the next is 春天来了 by 刺猬 or in English Spring is Coming by Hedgehog, the next is No Surprises by Radiohead. Also, for the neuroscience part, I actually borrowed a character and some of the script from an amazing show called Perception! Alrighty, well, enjoy!

* * *

Sasuke wakes up all of a sudden, for some reason feeling unease from a dream he had but can't seem to remember.

He squints his eyes as he raises up from his bed, looking around his room at his new University.

After he graduated he went to the community college with Shikamaru and got a job so he could save up and come to a good University.

So after two years and some of Itachi's help, he finally was able to attend.

Sasuke rises up and heads for the shower, but not before turning on his music.

The song Pumped Up Kicks by Foster The People, blaring through the speakers.

After Naruto's rejection, Sasuke was broken, and it took a while for him to start functioning right again. College and Shikamaru helped with that, being there with him, away from Naruto, was hard but was somewhat pleasant and so there he began his healing process.

Today is his first day at Uni, but he is alone, Shikamaru went to study at his dream college a whole state away.

But now, Sasuke can stand on his own two feet much better, he isn't the same kid who would cry over anything anymore.

He tries to keep thoughts of Naruto out of his head and it's become easier with no contact or pictures and no talking about him.

Now, Sasuke barely thinks of him at all.

Sasuke dries off and while bobbing his head to the beat, a small smile coming to his face as he wiggles his hips as the song comes to a close, only for Learn To Fly to come on right behind it.

Sasuke belts out the lyrics as he gets dressed, playing air guitar around his room, jumping around like he is preforming a concert.

He now has on a black T-shirt and boxer briefs as he continues his dancing, using his phone as a microphone, he dances all the way to his baggy darkish green pants with the big pockets on the side.

Before putting them on he changed the song, scrolling through his phone he picks one he loves.

Spring is Coming by Hedgehog.

He hits his air guitar roughly, his hair falling in front of his face as the guitars blast through the speakers.

When the vocals come on Sasuke tries to sing what Chinese he can as he bobs his heads while putting his pants on, he then dances over to his pull over sweater and pulls it right over as he twirls and plays his air guitar.

Sasuke then shuts off his music from the speakers and plugs in his headphones before grabbing his jacket and backpack and dancing out the door.

He changes the music to No Surprises by Radiohead and strolls down the hallway to his first class, neuroscience.

" _A heart that's full up like a landfill_

 _A job that slowly kills you_

 _Bruises that won't heal_

 _You look so tired, unhappy_

 _Bring down the government_

 _They don't, they don't speak for us_

 _I'll take a quiet life_

 _A handshake of carbon monoxide"_

He takes out his phone as the lyrics and the mellow melody flow into his ears, he scrolls through his social media for a minute, looking at his friends, from his Community College, status'.

 _"With no alarms and no surprises_

 _No alarms and no surprises_

 _No alarms and no surprises_

 _Silent, silent"_

He then goes to his messages and clicks Shikamaru's name then he types in a text to send.

 **"How is your morning of your first day going?"**

Sasuke watches his phone while simultaneously dodging other students walking by him, right before he sees Shikamaru typing back.

 **"Good, despite the fact that I forgot to set my alarm so therefore I couldn't shower when I finally woke up when I had only five minutes to get to class. So after hurridingly throwing on clothes and grabbing my things and rushing to class with like thirty seconds to spare, I found out my shirt is inside out and backwards, so I'm in class now, getting amused glances from my classmates. '-.-"**

 _"This is my final fit_

 _My final bellyache"_

Sasuke laughs out loud, holding his stomach at the pain.

 _"With no alarms and no surprises_

 _No alarms and no surprises_

 _No alarms and no surprises, please"_

 **"For real, man? What a way to start your new year! XD!"** Sasuke quickly writes back still giggling.

 **"Shuddap..."**

Sasuke laughs loudly again.

 _"Such a pretty house_

 _And such a pretty garden"_

 **"C'mon man, don't worry. I'm sure this is all the bad luck you'll have from this day forth. XD"**

 **"Yeah yeah yeah, how is your morning then? Worse than mine, I hope."**

 _"No alarms and no surprises_

 _No alarms and no surprises_

 _No alarms and no surprises, please"_

 **"Not bad, I was able to shower and now I'm off to class. Better than yours already, haha."**

The song finishes but Sasuke barely notices as the next song starts to play.

 **"Watch! Something will happen that will make your day worse! Bet!"**

 **"OH come on! Wanna curse me or something?"**

 **"Bet!"**

 **"...bet what...?"**

 **"If your day turns out worse, buy me dinner. If mine stays worse, I'll treat you.."**

 **"Haha! You are totally on!"**

 **"Good, but I gotta go now. Ttyl"**

 **"See ya, Shika"**

Sasuke listens to the music still playing as he continues his long walk to his very first class here, as he rounds the last corner and heads into his class.

Sasuke walks to the back of the big classroom and sits down and plays on his phone until the teacher comes in.

"Hello, I'm Doctor Daniel Pierce, I'll be your professor." He sits his things down and takes off his jacket before walking in front of his desk.

"Alright, everyone ready? Let's start."

Sasuke watches the others start to get their notebooks out so he follows along, grabbing one of this notebooks out of his backpack, as well as a pen.

"What is reality?" Doc looks around the class at all the kids.

"Hippie Guy." He quickly points to the kid wearing tie dye with long hair.

Sasuke as well as the other students giggle.

"The observable universe?" Hippie Guy shrugs his shoulders as he answers.

" I suppose that answer might fly in the physics department, but this is neuroscience." Doc says with a sarcastic tone.

Sasuke smiles, he already like his first class and teacher.

"Who's got the brains to give me an answer relating to the brain?" The teacher looks around again, "Ironic t-shirt." He points to the big breasted girl with the t-shirt reading _Stimulus Package_.

"Reality is exactly what we see and hear, instead of what we fantasize about or dream or, you know, maybe hallucinate." She replies nonchalant.

"Ah.." The teacher's mouth opens wide, "Hallucination."

"That's an answer I would have expected from hippie guy." He gives a quick, playful glance over to him.

The class laughs again.

"Sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll, right? Okay." He nods towards him and smirks.

Hippie Guy laughs along with the class.

"Now, here's something that's really gonna alter your consciousness." Doc looks around again, "Reality is a figment of your imagination."

"Who here hasn't woken up breathless from a nightmare and thought, "oh, thank goodness it's just a dream"?" He throws his hands up in mock fear.

"That's because the neurochemical impulses fired when we're dreaming or fantasizing or hallucinating are indistinguishable from the ones banging around inside our skulls when we actually experience those events."

The class watches him; some with awe, others with confusion, and some looking bored.

"So if what we perceive is often wrong. How can we ever know what's real and what isn't?" Doc looks around the class.

"Alright, class is over." He waves us goodbye as students start packing up.

Sasuke looks at the time surprised that it went by so quickly, as he begins packing up.

He feels excited for next week when he can come back because so far, this is his favorite class.

Sasuke goes to his next classes but not finding them as interesting as his first class.

When he finally gets out for the day, he is still excited about finally being here at this school.

Sasuke is about to text Shikamaru when he accidentally bumps into someone, Sasuke looks up as he apologizes.

"Sorry-" He is cut off when he sees who is standing before him.

The guy turns around to see what happened.

"Sasuke?" There is a surprise and friendly undertone, one too familiar.

Sasuke can't speak as the sight of his former best friend and first love, Naruto.

But not only is it Naruto who he sees, but Kirie standing there beside him with a forced smile on her face as she looks over at Sasuke.

"Wow, what are you doing here?" Naruto gives his famous huge, bright smile.

Sasuke's breath hitches, the sight so familiar, but he hasn't seen it for two years, the brightness is too much.

"What..?" Sasuke manages to sputter out.

This isn't suppose to happen, he is suppose to never seen him again.

How can he continue to heal if the dobe is here?!

"Uh.." Sasuke can't talk, he is completely taken off guard.

"So we are going to the same college now, that's totally cool! It's been too long!" Naruto keeps his smile in place, his innocent smile.

He acts like Sasuke never confessed and Naruto didn't completely abandon him.

But Sasuke is too shocked to even feel anger.

He takes a step away, pain flutters through his chest, a dull ache from the scar Naruto left on him that day at graduation.

And the dobe doesn't even feel bad about that, he is completely calm.

Sasuke turns away quickly, and hurriedly walks in the opposite direction, arms tight by his side, leaving a frowning Naruto watching his back.

When he gets to his room, he sits on his bed, the shock slowly wearing off.

He rubs his face.

"What the heck is he doing here?" Sasuke stares angrily at the floor.

"Great, how am I still affected that much by him?" Sasuke sighs and rubs his face harshly, more angry with his reaction than anything.

He grabs his phone to text Shikamaru.

 **"Where do you want me to buy you dinner?"**

 **"What? For real man, I win? :O"** Shikamaru texts back.

 **"Yes, you win. But I win for crappiest day ever.:("**

 **"What happened? Pop a boner in front of your entire class?"**

Sasuke bursts into a fit of laughter.

 **"No, you moron! You'll never believe who I just ran into, literally, ran into."**

 **"Who?"**

Sasuke rolls his eyes.

 **"Come on, Shika. You are smart enough to figure out WHO would make my day bad just by running into them. Think."**

After a minute, Shika replies.

 **"No.."**

 **"Yes."**

 **"NO"**

 **"YES"**

 **"What is he doing there? :o"**

 **"Dunno. But I literally couldn't speak and ran away. AND Kirie was there with him!"**

 **"Bro, what even.."**

 **";;"**

 **"What are you gonna do?"**

 **"I'll tell you one thing, I'm not gonna be the same person he once knew, I've changed too much, or at least I think so. But we ain't gonna talk or be friends."**

 **"Sounds like the best option."**

 **"When do you want me to buy you dinner then?"**

 **"This weekend, I ain't too far away so I'll come this weekend."**

 **"Okay, I'ma study now so I'll talk to you later, man."**

 **"Alright, see ya"**

Sasuke sighs and tosses his phone on his pillow, his dream finally coming back to him.

 _"I'm in love with you." I say calmly, not letting my eyes leave his._

 _I see his eyes grow wide, he removes his hand from my arm and he takes a step back._

 _My stomach jolts._

 _I feel bile rising to my throat but I push it down, I haven't received his reply, I can't start getting upset now._

 _"No. You can't."_

 _My throat clenches, I almost can't breathe._

 _"I do. I couldn't help falling in love with you, and I've been in love with you for years now." I surprised myself by how calm my voice sounded._

 _Naruto shakes his head, "We're guys, Sasuke. We're friends. I'm not gay."_

 _He doesn't look at me._

 _My heart is starting to speed up, it's hard to register any other sound._

 _"There isn't anything wrong with that." I take a step forward, pleading._

 _My heart almost stops as he takes a another step back, his face contorted in pain and anger._

 _"Being gay is not right, it's not normal, Sasuke. Don't you know that?" He finally looks at me and I wish he hadn't because his eyes look like they belong to a stranger._

 _"You truly believe that?" I plead, not wanting it to be true._

 _Naruto looks pained, "I do. I-I think it's disgusting."_

 _I see his hands clenched so tight, his knuckles are ghostly white._

 _My legs feel unstable._

 _My head feels like it's spinning a little._

 _"Then, can you not accept me?" I feel water stinging the corner of my eyes._

 _Naruto clenches his jaw, looking down with his eyes closed tight before sighing and looking straight at me._

 _"I can't."_

 _It's official, my heart has stopped beating, I can't even feel my body anymore, can you die just like that? For no reason other than heartbreak?_

 _If such a thing is possible, then it has just happened to me._

 _Right here._

 _Right now._

 _"I'm sorry, Sasuke. I don't wanna-" He stops himself._

 _He rubs his face, his jaw still clenched tight before continuing, " I don't wanna hurt you but I also can't accept you."_

 _When I return from my short moment of death, I look up and see tears running down his face._

 _"I'm sorry, Sasuke." Naruto looks at me before taking another step back._

 _The tears start to also run down my cheeks._

 _I feel him slipping away with each word, each step._

Sasuke takes a deep breath, now he knows why he felt so uneasy.

Why was this happening to him?

Why did he ever fall in love with his best friend anyway?

Sasuke gets up, angry at himself, angry at Naruto, and angry at Kirie, so he decides to clear his mind of them and study.

He hopes he can make it through this year.

The next day Sasuke wakes up suddenly from his sleep again, same dream.

He feels tired and it's only the second day of the school year.

And he won't have his neuroscience class again until next week.

Sasuke sighs but forces himself to get up, trying to figure out a good plan for avoidance.

But, nothing good comes to mind.

Since he is up early, he decides to go to the cafeteria for breakfast, he gets dressed and grabs his keys and heads out.

He is too tired for music this morning.

Sasuke yawns as he walks down the hallway, then rubs the sleep from his drowsy eyes.

He walks down the hallway to the cafeteria, yawning once again, when he opens his eyes he sees Naruto and Kirie both walking towards him to the cafeteria as well.

Sasuke stops.

Naruto sees and waves at Sasuke to join them.

Sasuke, without hesitation or without a hint of distress, turns around and walks the other way, once again, leaving a frowing Naruto in mid-wave, behind him.

He walks back to his room, the pain evident in his chest, as he picks up a fiber bar to eat for breakfast.

The week goes by with Sasuke avoiding Naruto, by luckily not having to see him too much, he hopes it stays that way for the rest of his time at Uni.

The more Sasuke avoids Naruto, the more his existence there becomes easier to handle.

But still, there is always a dull pain there waiting for each time he sees him.

Today is finally Friday, which means he gets to see his best friend, Shikamaru tonight.

And, buy him dinner.. wherever he wants.

Sasuke practically runs to the door when he hears the knocking.

Swinging the door open, he is faced with a smiling Shikamaru, whom he hugs almost as soon as he sees him.

"It's great to see you!" Sasuke smiles.

"It hasn't even been that long, Sasu." Shikamaru laughs.

They stay together for a little before moving apart.

"Where will I be buying your dinner?" Sasuke hesitantly asks.

"Don't worry, it ain't too expensive. Just this Italian restaurant down the road from here."

Sasuke sighs and nods, "Sounds good."

"You ready to go?"

"Yeah, I'm ready."

Both boys walk down the street to the restaurant, happily talking with one another.

"So tell me how your weeks been?" Shikamaru asks after they placed their orders.

Sasuke gives him a tired look.

"That bad?"

"No, not really too bad." Sasuke shakes his head.

Shikamaru leans in closer.

"I've been avoiding him so we haven't had much contact but the fact that he is here is still tiring to know." He plays with his straw paper.

"Yeah, at least you don't have much contact though, that wouldn't feel nice. Just keep avoiding him, maybe learn his schedule and work around it?"

Sasuke nods his head, "Maybe."

The lady returns with their lasagna and both boys dig in.

"So how's your week been?" Sasuke asks with his mouth full and sauce dripping down his chin.

Shikamaru laughs, "Good, and like you said, no more bad luck."

Sasuke smiles and they settle into a lighthearted conversation as they eat their food.

Shikamaru had become Sasuke's best friend since Naruto left, it all started on Christmas two years ago, when Shikamaru talked to him when he was depressed, and ever since then they got closer and closer.

At first, Shikamaru wasn't his first pick but now, he would always pick him, the one who stuck with him through his bad time.

That is something he can never forget.

They share laughs and stories as they eat their food in the laid back, comfortable atmosphere of the restaurant, the lights dimmed.

Everything is going well until Sasuke glimpses Naruto and Kirie walking over to a table with the hostess.

Shikamaru notices a change in Sasuke immediately and follows his eyes and glares.

"You wanna leave?" Shikamaru turns back to Sasuke.

Sasuke looks over to him and smiles, "No, I'm buying you dinner and I won't let him ruin my time with my best friend."

And Sasuke meant it, he isn't the same brokenhearted kid that he once was, and he won't let his night get ruined with his best friend when they finally get to hang out.

Shikamaru smiles and leans over, rustling Sasuke's hair.

"Oi! What are you doing? Trying to mess up my hair and hurt my gorgeous looks?" Sasuke says playfully.

"What looks?"

Sasuke's mouth drops.

"Not funny!" Sasuke tries to keep himself from smiling.

"Very funny." Shikamaru says with a smirk.

"Hey!"

Sasuke and Shikamaru look up to see who inturrupted then and low and behold it's a smiling Naruto.

"Can we join you? We should totally catch up, guys! It's really been forever."

Sasuke and Shikamaru look at each other but before they can answer, Naruto is squeezing beside Sasuke and Kirie beside Shikamaru.

The body contact makes Sasuke's heartbeat stop.

He then scoots as far away as he can from him, annoyance plainly on his face.

"How have you guys been?" Naruto asks, looking between Sasuke and Shikamaru but mostly keeping his eyes on Sasuke.

Sasuke takes a bite of his lasagna before answering.

"Perfectly good."

No emotion in his voice.

Shikamaru smirks.

"Yeah, we've been good, I go to XX Uni in the next state. I'm just here to see Sasuke."

Naruto nods, his eyebrows furrowed a little, "That's nice."

Sasuke continues eating.

Shikamaru watches him in amusement.

"It's really nice to see you again, Sasuke." Kirie smiles.

Sasuke looks up towards her.

Her smile seems forced along with her words, Naruto must've told her.

"Yeah." He looks back down.

Sasuke has manners, but he hates to lie, so what can he really say?

He glances at Naruto, who is rubbing his neck which means he is probably feeling kind of awkward now.

Sasuke smirks at that.

"Uh, Sasuke?" Naruto looks at him.

"Hm." Sasuke doesn't look up but continues to eat as does Shikamaru.

"I'm really happy I got to see you and talk to you again."

Sasuke doesn't flinch and doesn't look up.

"Yeah."

Short, and gives little information on how you're feeling.

Naruto's face drops and he begins eating the food that was finally brought out to them.

They eat in silence.

Shikamaru and Sasuke finish and grab the check, Naruto and Kirie let them out.

Naruto reaches out and lightly holds onto Sasuke's arm, ""I hope I can talk to you again."

When Sasuke actually looks to Naruto, he is received with such an intense and emotional glance that he can barely reply.

So he doesn't reply, he pulls his arm away and leaves with Shikamaru.

They walk home in silence and when they finally get to Sasuke's room, they bust out laughing.

"That was sooo awkward!" Shikamaru laughs.

"I know! Did you see their faces?" Sasuke is on his bed, holding his stomach.

"That was so bad! I can't believe that just happened!" Shikamaru wheezes.

This causes Sasuke to laugh even harder, until he to is wheezing.

After they finally calm down, they stay up talking some more before laying down for bed.

Sasuke hears Shikamaru snoring next to him as soon as his head hits the pillow.

Sasuke stares at the ceiling, thinking of what transpired today but for some reason, he can't forget those eyes and the way Naruto held onto him.

He can't explain it but Naruto's eyes held something, and he can't quite figure it out.

So he falls asleep with a new dream, one with those haunting eyes that Naruto wore earlier and that lingering touch they shared, a dream where Naruto accepted him.

The weekend passes by quickly as Shikamaru and Sasuke talk and play video games and before he knows it, Shikamaru is leaving to go back to his school.

"Man, I hate that you gotta go." Sasuke whines.

"Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it."

They hug at the door, neither one wanting the weekend to end.

"Text me about everything!" Shikamaru smiles.

"Of course! You too!" Sasuke returns the smile.

"See ya!"

"Bye, Shika!"

Sasuke closes the door and turns back to his empty room.

Monday morning Sasuke wakes up refreshed, because of a nice weekend and because his favorite class is today.

He wastes no time getting dressed and in heading over to his neuroscience class.

"Last week, I asked, "what is reality?"... This week, I want to talk about normalcy."

The class is absorbed already.

"What is normal? If you feel sad, do you just have a case of the blues, or are you suffering from a neurochemical imbalance?... The vast majority of the case studies that we've been looking at involve patients whose brains are anything but normal, and there's no question they suffer."

Doc walks around the room, looking at all his students.

"But is it all bad? For some, their neurological states might actually protect them from painful truths that no one would want to think about."

"Others develop a cheerful disposition that may help them cope with situations the rest of us would find disturbing."

"And if we are to establish a baseline, then we also have to ask ourselves how the brains of even so-called normal people respond to certain stimuli."

Doc leans against his desk as he speaks.

"And if we're able to treat those people living with neurological disorders, restore them to quote "normalcy,"... well, of course we're helping them."

He gestures with his hand outwards.

"But might we sometimes, also be stripping away... what makes them unique... robbing them of an essential part of who they are? "

* * *

Sooooo? I hope y'all liked it! Thanks for reading and please continue to read! It's a two year skip and now everyone is in college. I'm excited for everything to come!


	13. Estrangement

Hey guys! Chuan here! I finished the 13th chapter today! I hope y'all enjoy! Now for the music I listened too! Unforgettable by Zhavia, Television Romance by Pales Waves and Iris by Goo Goo Dolls. I know, I use a lot of music in my stories but not only do I love music but it fits really well with stories, and I see my stories as movies in my head and there is music there. XD

* * *

Sasuke packs up his things when Doc dismissed the class, he gets up and waits for the some of the other students to go through the door they are blocking.

He steps outside and makes a quick right down the hallway but stops midway when he sees Naruto staring at him, he quickly turns around but is blocked by students walking down the halls.

Sasuke tries pushing through, but he feels someone grab his arm, he turns around, hoping it isn't who he thinks it is.

"Sasuke.." Naruto's eyes are downcast.

His hopes weren't met.

Sasuke struggles against Naruto's grip, but he won't let go.

Sasuke stops and glares, "Let go."

He speaks calmly.

"Can I talk to you?"

"I don't wanna talk to you..." Sasuke grabs Naruto's wrist to try to pull off, "So leave me alone."

Naruto doesn't let go, his eyes staring at the floor.

"Please? I just.." Naruto finally looks at him, his teary eyes meeting annoyed ones.

"I don't care what you have to say, Naruto. We're not friends anymore, and we never will be again."

Naruto tenses his shoulders.

"So if you would so kindly let go, I'd appreciate that." Sasuke says sarcastically.

"But I.."

"Stop. Whatever you gotta say, I don't care anymore. Is that hard for a moron like you to understand? Don't talk to me or act all friendly with me." Sasuke starts feeling the dull ache again.

"We might've been friends once, no... more than that, we were family. I tried changing that, yeah, but you abandoned that first. I don't need or want you anymore. Shikamaru is my best friend, he is the one who really stood beside me when my heart was shattered. So I'm not welcoming you back into my life, not when I have great people who exist there now." Sasuke jerks his arm away.

"So if you wanna talk to someone, talk to Kirie, but don't even think about talking to me. I don't have ears for you, I don't have any nice words for you, and I definitely don't have friendship for you."

Naruto doesn't say a word, he stands there with his head down, his eyes staring hard at the floor, biting hard at his lip as water flows down his cheeks.

Sasuke doesn't look back as he walks away.

When Sasuke gets back to his room, he sits on his bed and rubs his face, feeling drained from his and Naruto's conversation earlier.

He thinks back on Naruto's pitiful face, and his heart jerks, guilt rips away at his insides when he thinks back on Naruto's crying face in his head.

Even if it's Naruto, he doesn't like hurting anyone.

Sasuke pulls out his phone.

 **"Hey Shika"**

He throws his phone down, Shikamaru is probably still in class so Sasuke decides to take a nap.

He lays down on his side, his legs hanging off the bed, his hands between his legs and before he knows it, he drifts off into a dreamless sleep.

Sasuke wakes up to his phone vibrating.

He grabs it and answers his call.

"Hello?" He says groggily, his eyes barely open, his bedhead messy on one side.

"Sasuke? What'd I do, wake you?"

Sasuke laughs a little, "Yeah, I was waiting for your reply and fell asleep."

"What's up?"

"Naruto stopped me after class today."

"What?"

Sasuke hears tension in Shikamaru's voice.

"Yeah, all he said was he wanted to talk but I pretty much shut him down and told him to leave me alone."

A few moments of silence go by.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I feel better now after telling him off but I kinda feel guilty too, I made him cry." Sasuke confesses.

"I'm glad you're okay. What does that guy even want? He pushed _you_ away and now he wants to buddy up? I don't get it. Don't feel bad man, you cried cause of him too much and not once did he feel guilty. I think he got his just desserts with that."

"Believe me, I don't understand it either. I didn't let him speak, so I don't even know. I just wanna have a great time at college, I can get past his presence here but I don't want him talking to me." Sasuke rubs his tired face at the thought.

"Yeah...want me to say something?"

Sasuke laughs, which in turn causes Shikamaru to laugh.

"I'm serious though. I don't want you to go back to that 'place', that was a bad time for you."

"Thanks but no thanks. This is something I need to be able to handle. I really do appreciate it though." Sasuke smiles.

"Anytime, if you need me, I'm only a call away."

"Thanks."

"Maybe sometime soon, you can come stay up here with me."

"Heck. Yes. I'm totally down for that."

Shikamaru giggles.

"Good, cause I'm missing my best friend already."

"Dude, same."

"Well I need to study, so I'll let ya go. Glad you are okay though."

"Alright, man. Thanks again! Good luck with your studies."

"Night."

"Nighty night."

Sasuke hangs up and lays back down on his back, staring at the ceiling.

"That stupid moron, can't he just leave me alone like he use too. Why is he trying to make an effort _now_?" Sasuke rubs his face harshly.

"If he wanted to keep our friendship, he should've made an effort back then."

Sasuke lays his arms next to his body, continuing his staring contest with the ceiling.

"Why is this even still on my mind? I shouldn't still be thinking of him."

Sasuke raises up, "You know what, Sasuke? No more time for thinking."

Sasuke smiles and gets up, hooking his phone up to his speaker, flipping through his music.

"Hmm, what song should I choose?"

Sasuke choose the song Unforgettable covered by Zhavia.

When the song comes on, Sasuke starts rocking to the beat.

His feet begin moving across the floor, his arms in the air as he moves his body to the song, his eyes close, lyrics pour out from his mouth.

He twirls and rocks his body to one side and then the other, jerking his body in all directions.

Swaying his hips to the mellow beat.

When the song goes off, he starts walking to his phone to find another song when he starts dancing to the one that starts playing.

Television Romance by Pales Waves.

His body immediately moving again.

His mind clearing more and more as he moves his body to the music.

 _"You wanna love me, but honey that ain't okay."_

Sasuke mouths the words, shaking his head as he sings the lyrics.

He twirls around in a circle as he dances to the upbeat chorus, throwing his arms straight in the air, continuing around in a circle.

Then he stops and sings the mellow bridge.

 _"And you think that you can have me tonight_

 _I think that my, think my heart is alright_

 _I know, baby, think that I've got all the time_

 _But in a few hours, I'll be out of my mind"_

Then he jumps up and down and shakes his head as he sings the chorus again.

 _"Oh, baby, won't you stop it?_

 _You and I haven't got it_

 _Television romance_

 _Oh, baby, won't you stop it?_

 _You and I haven't got it, got it_

 _Television romance"_

And he keeps singing and dancing until his mind is clear, until a couple hours go by without notice.

When Sasuke wakes up the next morning, his body aches from all the dancing last night.

But luckily he doesn't have any classes today, so he is going out to eat and gonna walk around the city he has yet to really see.

Sasuke walks down the sidewalk, looking at all the shops, excited to see so many stores, it's completely different from his home town.

As he is walking, he sees a shop that sells smoothies, so he hurriedly goes in, ready to fill his belly with delicious fruity goodness.

Sasuke orders a strawberry and blueberry smoothing made with pomegranate juice before he sits at a small table in the back of the small room.

He plays on his phone and sips on his smoothie, listening to the music that comes over the speakers from the small, mellow smoothie shop, when one he hasn't heard in forever begins to softly play, causing Sasuke to smile at the familiar tune, Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls.

 _"And I'd give up forever to touch you_

 _Cause I know that you feel me somehow_

 _You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be_

 _And I don't want to go home right now_

 _And all I can taste is this moment_

 _And all I can breathe is your life_

 _'Cause sooner or later, it's over_

 _I just don't want to miss you tonight"_

Sasuke had closed his eyes, forgetting completely about the smoothie or his phone as he silently listens to the music.

This song has some strong memories attached to it, he listened to this with many thoughts of Naruto, because Sasuke felt like he could give up everything for Naruto, he loved him so much. He'd often listen to this with Naruto as well, they both loved it, and he was always watching him from his peripherals.

He opens his eyes; eyes filled with sadness and memories.

Naruto really hurt him, and he doesn't wanna be friends with him, but he still misses him on rare occasion.

Sasuke takes a sip of his smoothie and looks up towards the door as the bell above it rang.

His eyes widen slightly when he sees Naruto and Kirie walk into the little shop.

Sasuke doesn't stop staring even when Naruto looks up and sees him, surprise evident on his face, but he quickly composes himself and just watches Sasuke.

The music getting louder in Sasuke's ears.

 _"And I don't want the world to see me_

 _'Cause I don't think that they'd understand_

 _When everything's made to be broken_

 _I just want you to know who I am"_

Sasuke can't look away, his mind is blank of almost everything, except the memories flooding back into his brain, the memories he tried to rid himself of; the happy memories, the sad, the loving, and the broken.

The ache comes back heavy in his chest, but he can't look away.

His head hurts but he can't look away.

 _"And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming_

 _Or the moment of truth in your lies_

 _When everything feels like the movies_

 _Yeah, you bleed just to know you're alive"_

Sasuke takes a shallow breath, the can't hear anything but the music and can't see anyone but Naruto.

 _"And I don't want the world to see me_

 _'Cause I don't think that they'd understand_

 _When everything's made to be broken_

 _I just want you to know who I am"_

The pain gets so bad that it snaps him out of his trance, he grabs his things quickly and walks quickly past Naruto to the door, Naruto doesn't try to stop him, he just lets him go.

He walks quickly back to his dorm, keeping his head down the whole time.

Sasuke wakes up the next morning, drained from his encounter with Naruto...again.

He sighs; when will he be able to be more normal around him?

He gets up and showers and does some yoga before plopping down in his bean bag chair and playing some video games.

He decides to play his new-found obsession, Persona 5.

After a little while, Sasuke's phone rings.

Without looking at it, he picks it up.

"Hey Sasuke."

"Yo, Shika. What's up?" Sasuke holds the phone between his shoulder and head as he fights a strong opponent.

"Nothing much, just finished my studying and wanted to see how you were."

Sasuke hears Shikamaru yawn on the other end.

"Sleepy?" Sasuke laughs, not taking his eyes away from the tv.

"A little, but I don't wanna go to sleep yet."

"Maybe you should if you're that tired."

"No."

"Yeah. Don't whine cause it's nap time." Sasuke teases.

"Hey!" Shikamaru tried to sound angry but ended up laughing along with Sasuke.

"I'll comply half-way and lay down."

"Alrighty, guess it can't be helped."

"What are you doing?" Shikamaru yawns again.

"Obsessing over Persona 5."

"Really dude? How long have you played today?"

"Umm, when did it get dark?"

Shikamaru laughs loudly.

"Really, Sasu? Maybe YOU need to go to bed."

"You're prolly right but... this game...it's too addicting."

"Man, I can hear the game and your button pressing over the phone." He laughs.

Sasuke laughs, "I'm fighting this tough guy, and he keeps killing me and I keep having to start over. It's pissing me off."

"Hang in there, Sasu."

"Of course! I ain't no giver-upper!

A few moments of silence goes by, Sasuke nearly forgets he is on the phone before he yells, dropping the phone in his lap when he threw his arms in the air.

"Finally! I beat him!"

He smiles and gives a sigh of relief before picking up the phone.

"You hear that Shikamaru? I totally beat him just now." Sasuke brags over the phone.

No answer.

"Shika?"

Sasuke listens closely to hear the soft breathing of a sleeping Shikamaru, causing a smile to cross his face before he says a quiet goodnight and ending the call.

A few minutes goes by playing his game when the phone rings again, Sasuke laughs and answers.

"I told you to go to bed, Shika! You even fell asleep on the phone." Sasuke laughs.

"Umm...Sasuke?"

Sasuke frowns and hangs up the phone.

"Freaking idiot. I should've changed my number."

Sasuke's phone beeps with a message, he hesitantly grabs it to read.

 **"I just wanna talk, Sasuke. Please hear me out."**

Sasuke grits his teeth and turns his phone off and throws it on his bed before playing his game again.

Half an hour goes by when Sasuke hears a knock at his door.

He sighs and gets up, walking to the door, he opens it and a sees a shocking and annoying sight; Naruto Uzumaki standing right in front of him.

Sasuke clicks his tongue in anger.

* * *

Well? What are y'all thinking? I'd loved to hear! Thank you to everyone who reads and thank you to all who review, I read them all and I love them! 3


	14. Perspective, Realization, Recognition

Hey guys! I'm so excited for the story that I ended up writing some more! This story is Naruto POV so I hope y'all enjoy! The songs I used for this is Iris by Goo Goo Dolls, and Trouble by Kristin Hersh. I'm looking forward to sharing more chapters with you all!

* * *

 _Junior High_

"Sasuke!" I run towards Sasuke who is sitting in his seat in homeroom.

When he sees me, he smiles, he has a very nice smile.

When I get close to him, I plop down right on his lap, causing him to make an 'oof' sound before he began laughing.

"Dobe! What are you doing? You're heavy!" Sasuke doesn't stop laughing, even while throwing a fit.

"Sittin'. It's quite comfy here, teme." I lean back and give a sly smile.

I lean my back farther against him and put my arm around his neck, he stops trying to push me off and looks down to the floor, for some reason his cheeks are red.

"You okay, teme?" I give him a curious look.

He looks up at me but avoids my eyes, "Uh.. yeah, why you ask?"

"Well your cheeks are red." I poke his cheek for emphasis and smirk at his reaction.

His eyes widen, and he looks away, trying to push me off again.

"I'm fine, dobe. Get off!"

I feel a sharpness in my side from his pushing.

I smirk, "No. I think I'll stay."

I snuggle up closer to him, bringing my legs up as I wrap both of my arms around him, burying my face in his neck, I take in a deep breath.

"Umm.. Naruto, Sasuke?"

Sasuke and I both look up and see several people watching us, they look uncomfortable for some reason.

"Yeah?" I reply.

"Are you guys dating, perhaps?" The girl, Mira, asks a little hesitantly.

My eyes widen, dating? Me and Sasuke?

I look around the room, and I see people giving us strange looks and giggling and whispering.

"Hey! Why are you asking that? What does it matter?" Another girl, Hiroko, stands up and confronts Mira.

"I'm just asking! What's it to you anyway? Do you support disgusting stuff like that." She points right at us.

I flinch, what is going on?

Why is she saying something so mean?

"Yeah, so what! They are cute together and you can tell they really care for one another, what does it matter if they are two boys or not?" Hiroko's eyes are on fire.

"Ugh, just shut up." Mira rolls her eyes and turns her body away from Hiroko.

What's going on? Why do people think me and Sasuke are dating? We're just friends.

I look at Sasuke, his eyes are looking down to the floor.

He must be embarrassed.

"We're not dating." I reply quickly.

Everyone looks towards me and after a moment of silence, everyone laughs.

"Yeah, right! Two guys don't act like that with each other!" One guy replies.

"Yeah! I mean, he is sitting in his lap!" A girl laughs.

"Stop lying, you fags." Mira giggles.

I felt Sasuke jerk at the insulting name.

I feel my heart thud against my chest, why are we being called something so insulting?

Well, why am I even sitting in his lap? That _is_ pretty weird, even Sasuke tried pushing me off.

I stand up and sit down in my seat in front of Sasuke, I shouldn't have done that to him.

After school, and after suffering through rumors and bullying, Sasuke and I walk back in silence to my house, tonight he is staying with me.

When we get there, we both walk up to my room and sit down.

"Naruto?"

I look up and see a small smile on Sasuke's face.

"Are you okay?"

I nod, "I guess. I was expecting nothing like that earlier."

"Yeah, me either." He says softly.

"I can't believe people really think that way about us. Also, I'm sorry, it was my fault.. I shouldn't have done something so weird." I look down to the floor.

"What?"

I look up, surprised at Sasuke's tense tone, his eyes are hard.

"You did nothing wrong, idiot."

"Hah?" I give him a strange look, what is he saying? Of course I did.

"We're friends, we were both playing around. What's wrong with that?" Sasuke is looking at the floor, his fists are clenched tight, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Uhh.."

"I mean, we're family, we're brothers. I really do care for you, I do love you so why is it weird to show that?" Sasuke looks at me with anger.

"W-why are you so mad?" I stutter.

He sighs, "I'm not mad at you, moron. I'm mad at those ignorant people."

I look down again, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

I don't wanna argue with Sasuke, but I can't help and see what they were saying, I did do something weird and gross.

"Naruto."

I look up and see him smiling, he must really not care about what they said, huh?

"Don't worry about what people think. All that matters is you and me."

I smile, he is right I guess.

"Oh! I almost forgot!"

I jump when he all of a suddenly yells.

"What is it?" I ask, worried.

"We sent in that letter, remember!? The one to the radio station? They are gonna pick a letter to read and then play a song for the people he picks."

"Ohhhh, yeah! Hurry, turn it on!"

Sasuke hurriedly turns the radio on, and we sit and listen for the announcement after the music plays.

 _ **"Alrighty now, time to pick the letter of the day."**_

"It's here!" I say excitedly to Sasuke.

He nods his heads, a smile plastered onto his pale face.

 _ **"Okay, time for the draw! Let's see here.."**_

Sasuke and I look at each other excitedly.

 _ **"Ah, we got one. This letter is from Naruto and Sasuke."**_

Sasuke and I jump up and yell, our excitement overflowing as we jump up and down on the bed. When we hear the start of our letter being read, we hurry and lay back down to listen, our rapid heart rates pumping in our ears.

 _ **"The letter reads, 'We are best friends in Junior High and have been great friends ever since we were little, and have stuck by each other and have supported each other, even during the hardest times, like the death of parents."**_

 _ **"We are always together and would do anything for each other. We hope to stay as great friends forever, if at all possible. We never wanna forget our memories together. We always want the other to know that, no matter what, we'll be there for each other. We'll drop whatever to be there and that even when we become adults, we'll never abandon the other."**_

 _ **"We, Naruto and Sasuke, will always be best friends. Always. So we'd like for you to pick a song for us, to represent our close friendship.'"**_

 _ **"Wow, sounds like you guys are a great pair! I hope you guys stay as great friends. We have a good song for you then."**_

 _ **"This song is 'Iris' by Goo Goo Dolls, this song was written for the 1998 film City of Angels starring Nicolas Cage. The writer said this about the movie and song, "When I wrote it, I was thinking about the situation of the Nicholas Cage character in the movie. This guy is completely willing to give up his own immortality, just to be able to feel something very human. And I think, 'Wow! What an amazing thing it must be like to love someone so much that you give up everything to be with them.' That's a pretty heavy thought." So for two young friends, who have shared such amazing and heartfelt memories together, I present this song to you."**_

Sasuke and I look at each other, happy and excited as the song began to play.

We listened to the song over and over again after it went off on the radio, we fell in love with it and it's now our song. The lyrics seem really personal and loving.

After listening to the song on repeat and playing around, we laid down for bed.

"Even though today had been crappy at the beginning, we got our letter picked!" Sasuke rolls over to me, his arm drapes over my chest.

I tense up at the sudden contact.

He then smiles at me.

I turn more toward him, his beautiful smile shining through the darkness.

My muscles relax under his warm touch.

My heart skips a beat though.

"Yeah, that was great. That song was nice too."

"Oh most definitely!"

A few moments of silence go by before Sasuke speaks again.

"Thanks."

I turn toward him again, he is still staring at me.

"For what?"

"For being my best friend, for always sticking by me."

He gives another blinding smile, the smile he has reserved for only me.

I smile too, "Always."

I flick him on the nose and get a chuckle out of him.

"I guess we should get some sleep now. Night, dobe."

I chuckle, "Night, teme."

In no time Sasuke falls asleep, but I'm not sleepy yet.

I can't help but replay the day through my head.

The name-calling, the humiliation, the rumors, the weird and gross things I did.. that I'm doing.

Here I am, sleeping next to my guy friend, his arms are draped over me and I ain't removing them or sleeping on the couch.

I'm gross.

That song, it was great but it seems very romantic, not something for two guy friends.

I sigh and look over at Sasuke, my heart jolts and butterflies well up in my stomach.

Is this for real? No no no no no..

I can't possibly like him, can I?

My heart starts racing, am I really what they said today?

Am I a fag?

I feel tears slip down my cheeks but I hurriedly wipe them away.

But, I can't.

I look at Sasuke, and the song replays in my head, the feel of his skin comes to my mind, the smell of his freshly washed hair, the feel of his hands against me.

My stomach feels so light, my heart feels so heavy.

I mean, I've had butterflies in my stomach around Sasuke for a while now, that's normal, right?

And who doesn't like the feel of touching their best friend? That's gotta be normal.

And it's not weird to think your guy best friend is handsome.

I can't be gay, I can't, this kinda thing has to be normal.

Right?

Okay, think, how do I feel around my other guy friends. Like Kiba!

Well, I mean, he ain't a bad looking guy, I suppose, but I don't think he is super handsome.

I pout my lips as I try to recall anything else.

I don't get a funny feeling in my stomach around him either.

I go through all my other friendships but I still have no conclusion.

I look at Sasuke and the butterflies act up again, I look at his face and then down to his lips and my heart lurches forward.

I jolt up.

No way.

I wanted to kiss him right then.

My heart is racing in my ears.

No way.

Have I always liked Sasuke?

My pounding heart feels so loud that Sasuke has to be able to hear.

No, I like Sasuke?

I'm gay?

I look at his face again.

I like Sasuke. I'm gay.

So what they said about me earlier, that was true.

I'm disgusting.

 _Present Time_

After I realized that I have the hots for my best guy friend, I started actively searching out girls to date. I had to hide what I was, especially from one person in particular. I could never let Sasuke find out I liked him.

A like that turned into love.

A love that in the end broke us.

The rumors started to die down too after that but I had to make sure they didn't start up again.

As I got older, I lied to myself so much, told myself that I was straight, that I didn't love my best friend in such a disgusting way, that I began to really believe it.

But my feelings for Sasuke grew, the more I pushed him away, the more I pushed my true self away as well.

And I hurt my best friend because of my foolish fear.

When he confessed to me on graduation, I couldn't believe that he also loved me and that scared me, so I hurt him worse than ever that day.

I couldn't accept myself, I couldn't accept what would come if we dated.

I couldn't accept Sasuke getting hurt from horrible people who hate guys like us.

So I told him that I couldn't accept him and that he was disgusting.

I don't deserve to be forgiven, and that's what I thought and one reason I never contacted him.

That is, until he ran into me at college, and I was so surprised but then I thought, 'this must be fate, a second chance for both of us', but completelypushed me down.

At first, I thought maybe I'll give him space but the more I saw him and the more my boxed up feelings came to surface, the more I couldn't leave him be.

So I would watch for him, I would wait for him, I wanted to see him, to talk to him, to be with him again.

That day he told me off hurt pretty bad, but I deserved it, but he didn't deserve the pain I inflicted onto him.

Finding out Shikamaru is his best friend makes me super jealous and I know I have no right and I know I should be grateful but I still don't like it. How could I stand the thought of someone being closer to Sasuke than me?

Even if I'm the scum of the earth, I know that I'm selfish.

And then I saw him at the smoothie shop and our song was playing, that moment was special and I couldn't stop the smile when Sasuke ran out the door, flustered from that moment.

I thought, 'maybe I have a chance after all.'.

And then when I decided to call his old phone number to see if it worked, I lucked out, but the teme hung up on me and then _ignored_ my text and so that's how I find myself in front of his door, no plan at all ready for the moment that door opens.

I knock on the door and wait for Sasuke to answer, I hear his footsteps and then the door opens wide.

He frowns and clicks his tongue when he sees me.

Wow, so welcoming.

He tries shutting the door but I hurriedly stick my foot in the way.

"Wait, Sasuke!"

"Shaddup! I don't wanna talk to you!"

"Please, Sasuke! Just...please."

"No!" He uses all his strength against the door, pushing it hard but I get my body in half-way before using all my strength to fully push myself all the way in.

Sasuke grits his teeth, staring at me in thought before _he_ tries to leave himself.

I grab his arm and push him up against the now closed door.

"Please, wait.." I look down at him, who is frozen from my touch.

Sasuke furrows his eyebrows in pain, "Please, can't you just let me be? You keep hurting me all over again."

I flinch, I must be really hurting him, and for what? My own selfish reasons?

"Sorry, I don't wanna keep hurting you." I rest my forehead against his.

He tenses and then takes in a quick breath.

"Then stop." Sasuke tries to push me away again.

"I can't, I can't let you go this time." I say desperately.

"Why? You never had trouble before." He quickly replies.

It's like he cut me, I feel a painful sting.

"I know, and that's one thing I wanna talk to you about. But for now, will you allow me to apologize?"

"No."

I chuckle a little, "Why not?"

"Cause it's worthless."

I sigh.

I feel Sasuke look down.

I trace my hands over his arms, up and down.

"Well, listen first and then decide if it's worthless."

I wait for his reply but receive none, I guess that means I can go ahead.

"Sasuke, I'll never be able to tell you sorry enough times even if I did it 24/7. I.. I hurt someone who I never wanted to hurt. I pushed you away and I said so many horrible things, that I can never take back, I can only apologize and make up for it. I don't deserve you and I don't deserve your forgiveness but I'm selfish and seeing you, I just couldn't leave you alone."

Sasuke takes a deep breath.

"I'm truly sorry for all I have ever done to hurt you. I am so so sorry. So truly sorry. I can never make up for what I did, but I wanna try, if you'll let me."

I clench his arms, tears stream from my face.

"You were my best friend, my family and I threw you away." I choke from my sobbing.

"Sasuke, I miss you so much. I accept you, Sasuke. I will always accept you. It's me I couldn't accept."

I wipe some of my tears with my sleeve.

"Sasuke.."

"Shh."

I open my eyes and see a sad smile on Sasuke's face, he reaches up and wipes the new tears from my eyes.

"I forgave you a long time ago, dobe."

"Then why did you avoid me?" I sniff.

"Idiot, just cause you forgive someone doesn't mean you have to hang out with or be around them. I forgave you but the scar still exists, I'm still healing."

"Sasuke."

He looks at me in my eyes.

"I'm really sorry."

Sasuke gives another sad smile, "I know."

He pats my head and I lay my head on his shoulder.

"Really sorry."

"I know." He pats my back, the sad smile never leaving his face.

"What does that mean for us then?" I look at Sasuke's face.

He doesn't look at me.

"I'm sorry." He gently pushes me away and opens the door, not once looking at me and not once did the sad smile leave.

Fresh tears slide down my cheeks as I nod, "Okay."

I walk out the door, not looking back as I hear the door gently close and sobbing from the other side of the closed door.

I made him a wreck and I'm leaving him in his misery again.

I'm trouble.

Oh trouble, set me free.

I've seen your face, and it's too much for me today.

Trouble.

Oh trouble can't you see, you're eating my heart away.

And there's nothing much left of me.

Trouble.

Oh trouble please be kind.

I don't want no fight, and I haven't got a lot of time.

* * *

So, what y'all think? I wanna show that even when someone may look like the bad guy, and may make mistakes, there is always more to the story., always more than one perspective. I know that there isn't many excuses for treating people wrongly but I wanted to show that Naruto was indeed going through his own battles as well. I hope y'all enjoyed reading! I always get excited to share the new chapters with my readers. Thank you to all who continue to stick around and patiently wait for my next chapter! And thank you to all new readers and followers! I will try to post the next chapters asap! PS: thanks for sticking around for my first posted story, the first chapters were rough, I was fairly new to writing and made many mistakes but as I work on this, I can see my writing improving. Thanks for helping me and for reading! I will continue to work on my writing skills and I will keep improving!


End file.
